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Sine Cerere et Libero friget (Without and Bacchus, Venus Would Freeze)

Hendrick Goltzius, Dutch (active Haarlem), 1558 - 1617

Creation: 1600-1603

Pen work. An unusual sort of ink on canvas drawing with additional touches of oil paint to add colour.

This painting was originally held by various powerful and influential figures, including the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, Queen Christina of Sweden, and Charles II of England.

Sine Cerere et Libero friget Venus​ displays the importance of figures such as Bacchus and Ceres were to the roman populace, with love needing the two in order to be able to flourish. Wine and the associated merry spirits as well as nourishment through bread are shown to be requirements for other forms of pleasure rooted in more emotional regions to take place.

“Panem et circenses”​ , a phrase attributed to the Roman Poet Juvenal in the first or second century CE, further coberrates with the narrative displayed by the painting. This is often used in the political context, in which the provision of the two can be used to gather love from the populace, and other general strong approval ratings. Such a technique is one that was oft attributed to Populares​ figures such as Gaius Julius Caesar, one of the most effective politicians in the end days of the republic, so effective in fact that he brought about its downfall. It should also be noted that such a phrase was used to shame the general populace for neglecting what mattered in the grand scheme of things, which further maps onto the idea of Aphrodite/Venus being portrayed as one who is entirely fickle.

This can also be interpreted through the lens of how the Romans often saw fit to render the women amongst the pantheon less self sustaining than their greek counterparts. Venus in particular has a long history of this, through a series of cultural transmissions beginning with the Mesopotamian Goddess Ishtar, a goddess of war, justice, and politics, amongst the domain of love and sexuality. Through various cultural bridges, the goddess became Astarte and then Aphrodite (although her popping up in Sparta allowed for a bit more of the war goddess aspect). By the time Aphrodite becomes Venus, the Odyssey has made a huge show of rendering her a poor fit for warfare, and later latin works such as the Aeneid further cement this. Overall, the painting can be used as a means of exploring the Roman views on base needs, the politics associated with fairly potent political figures, or the general view as to the of the divine, especially one heavily coded as feminine in a heavily patriarchal society.