National Gallery, London
The story of this painting comes from Roman Mythology. Mars the God of War, has been making love to Venus, the Goddess of Love. He is so tired that he does not know that little fauns are playing with his weapons. But one is about to blow a big shell loudly in his ear. The message of this painting is that Love can win over War. The design is based on a big W. which makes the painting symmetrical. Botticelli did this for the bedroom of Giuliano de'Medici, a wealthy nobleman from Florence. He painted Mars to look like Giuliano and Venus to look like his girlfriend but Giuliano did not have much time to enjoy his paintings as he was murdered only a short time later.