VENUS, the Roman goddess of Jove, subsequently identified with the Greek Aphro Ilite (q.v.). Originally, she does not seem to have occupied a conspicuous place in the Latin religion, and scarcely, if at all, figures in the history of Rome under the kings; a circumstance that throws no inconsiderable light on the Roman character, for it may be taken as an indication of the grave and serious disposition of the people, who highly valued matrimony and wedded joys, but cared little for the sentimental passion of love. Gradually, however, as the myth of the Trojan origin of Rome gained ground, the wor ship of Venus emerged into importance. Aphrodite was the mother of iEneas, and Aphrodite became Venus; Arcs was Mars, and Mars was the national god of the Roman people; and as in the Greek mythology, Aphrodite was beloved of Ares, so, of course, Venus was represented as the paramour of Mars, and thus was advanced by the poets to the dignity of the divine mother of the Roman people. Several temples were erected to her in Rome at different times and under different names, and rites were celebrated in her honor during the mouth of April—the spring-time of the year being thought favorable to the growth of tender emotions.
The figure of Venus was a favorite subject of ancient sculptors. One of the most fa mous specimens extant is the " Venus de' Medici," preserved in the Uflizi gallery at Flor ence, and generally admitted to be the finest relic of ancient art. It was dug up in several pieces, either at the villa of Hadrian, near Tivoli, or at the portico of Octavia, in Rome, in the 17th c.; and after remaining for some time in the Medici palace in Rome (whence its name), was carried to Florence by Cosmo III. about 1680. It is a nude statue, 4 ft. 11i in. in height, without the plinth; and from the exquisite symmetry and grace of the figure, it has become a sort of standard of excellence for the female form. The sculptor was Cleomenes, the Athenian (200 B.O. The beautiful " Venus of Milo," now in the Louvre at Paris, is so called because it was found in' the island of Milo or Melos in the Archipelago. Of modern statues that by Canova is the most famous.