Venetian school; XVII century."Venus and Mars".Oil on canvas. Reengineered.Measures: 62 x 50 cmAlthough Venus was married to the god Hephaestus, she began a relationship with the god Mars, who, upon seeing her, had fallen in love. Thus beginning a courtship. Every night while Hephaestus worked, the two lovers would meet. This story is narrated by the aedo Demodocus in Homer's "Odyssey", who tells that it was the god of the sun, Helios, who discovered the lovers one night when they took too long. The god then alerted Hephaistos, who was enraged and arranged over the bed a subtle invisible metallic net, which only he himself could handle, and which had the power to immobilize even the gods. Thus he trapped the lovers on the next occasion, and then called the rest of the gods to witness the adultery, thinking to humiliate them. Some commented on Aphrodite's beauty, others that they would have gladly exchanged themselves for Ares, but all mocked them. When the couple was released, Ares fled to his native Thrace and Aphrodite went to Cyprus.Formally, it is part of academicism, and therefore follows classical rules, the first of which is the great technical quality. Thus, the drawing is rigorous and firm, of great anatomical perfection. The academicism is a direct inheritance of classicism, and hence the predilection for themes such as the one presented here, taken from mythology, although captured from a sensual and decorative point of view far from the solemnity of ancient classical art. Hence also the way of approaching the theme of Venus and Mars, recreating the mythological figures in a totally new way. However, we can appreciate an ideal of beauty that is not based on reality, although the painter's study of nature is undeniable, but rather an idealism based on reality due to his sum of experience, that is, an aesthetic sublimation that reflects a beauty that transcends reality.