Venus a Paphos en Chypre

This drawing addresses a mythological theme with Aphrodite as its focal point. It most probably depicts that aftermath of a storm leading to a shipwreck. The shape of god Zeus wearing a crown and riding an eagle and a cloud looms large at the top left of the drawing. A master of the elements, he orders Aeolos, god of the winds, to blow and to create havoc in the sea. Poseidon, the god of the seas, appears holding a trident and driving a cart through troubled waters. At the top right, Hermes leans leisurely against the rainbow, signaling the end of the storm. Aphrodite, the patron goddess of seafarers, appears distressed in the middle of the drawing, affording comfort to her people. She is surrounded by men pulling ship-wrecked sailors from the sea while others lie exhausted on the shore. A couple of bereaved individuals appear on the bottom left looking for survivors. A man in the background swims towards the shores. A couple of sea serpents blow their horns at the bottom right of the drawing. The entire scene, as depicted here, abounds in tension, anxiety and fear. In this drawing, Louis Cheron alludes to Lucritius’ Hymn of Aphrodite (On the nature of Things, Book I) where he calls the goddess the ‘patroness of seafarers’. He draws upon Aphrodite’s qualities of Euploia or Limenia in classical imagery. The title suggests that all this is happening in Paphos, Cyprus, in the godesses’ homeland and is one of the rarest illustrations of Aphrodite Euploia.