Venus, Mars and Cupid

Raimondi’s fascination with ancient marbles is evident in this allegory of love triumphant over war. He used the Belvedere Torso, a fragment of an ancient marble statue, as his model for the figure of Mars. The dynamic, twisting musculature of the broken sculpture inspired many artists who studied its form and incorporated it into new compositions. Here Mars sits disarmed while Venus and Cupid carry a torch of victory, their carefully modeled, static poses reminiscent of sculptures.