Venus with the weapons of Mars. Roman imperial period, 2nd half of the 2nd century AD. H 15.9cm. Cast bronze. The naked goddess with four long plaits and a neck bun holds a pseudo-Corinthian helmet in her right hand and the remains of a parazonium in her left. Furthermore, the right hand is pierced and originally held a lance, while the left hand rested on a shield that is now lost. The affair of Venus, goddess of love and wife of Vulcan, with Mars, god of war, ended in scandal on Olympus, as the betrayed husband bound the adulterous couple to their love bed with invisible chains and presented them to the assembly of the gods. In Roman times in particular, the image of Venus with the weapons of the god of war became a symbol of the disarming power of love in the truest sense of the word. Beautiful matt green patina, left foot broken, mounted on a black plastic stand. Provenance: Ex collection W. M., Bavaria; ex Gorny & Mosch auction 283, Munich 2021, lot 144; previously in the South German private collection Wilhelm Bauer; ex Gorny & Mosch auction 150, Munich 2006, lot 333.