I don't know why some of us still call the holiday of love and romance
Saint Valentine's Day. There is nothing particularly saintly about the observance
of the day. Just as with Saint Nicholas' fading relationship to the celebration of
Christmas, Valentine's Day is another opportunity for commercial enterprise.
Now is the time when the purveyors of expensive jewelry, chocolates, roses and
sexy underwear are cashing in on the obligations of love. And so, woe be to the
man who forgets his sweetie on Valentine's Day.
There is an old saying that we should make every day a Valentine's Day.
But the truth is, of course, that love and romance, or the lack of it, is always
on our minds, and always has been, throughout history. For proof of that
all we have to do is look back through the panorama of art history. In every
period and style, Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, and her mischievous
progeny Cupid, have been popular themes in all forms of our art and literature.
The older I become, the more conscious I become of the millions of years
it took for our human species to evolve, and more conscious yet, of how little
we have changed during the past several thousand years. We are still the very
same people that we were in "ancient" Greece. The only visible difference is
the fast and luxurious life-style we enjoy now, because of the advances in
science and technology. We still have the same desires for love, as well as
the same urges for sexual gratification. We still have the same hungers for
wealth, luxury and prestige, and we still seem to be easily duped by fraudulent,
self-aggrandizing politicians. And most troublesome of all, our various
nationalities remain divided and war-prone, because of stubborn beliefs in
opposing creation mythologies.
We get these reminders of how little we have changed, when we look
back at the art and designs of the everyday objects we used in "ancient"
Greece and Rome. Most often the subjects which were depicted in the
decorations, concerned the misadventures of the eternal beings, in love and
in war, serving as symbols for the daily struggles of life. For example, this
bronze cover for a hand-mirror, which was made by one of my fellow
artist-craftsmen about twenty five hundred years ago. This again depicts
the goddess of love, restraining her son as he practices his skills with his bow and
arrows, to target all unsuspecting mortals, and forever afflict us with the wounds
of love. The Greeks called them Aphrodite and Eros, and in this case it looks as
though they thought that one of those love darts that Eros shoots, could accidentally
strike anyone at any time. So. perhaps, as they say, it really is never too late.
But of course, there are a couple of serious problems which can result from
being overpowered by an enchanted love-spell. The object of one's desires may
not return your affections, or may not even be worthy of of your love at all.
Such scenarios have a part of our art and literature for millenniums. Some of the
most, long-famous examples include Donizetti's opera The Elixir Of Love, and
Shakespeare's comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which the love potion
causes a queen to fall in love with an enchanted ass.
I did enhance the image slightly to help restore it a bit and soften the corrosion
blotches on the metal, but I did not alter or change the lines of the artist's drawing.
The image reminds me of so many others, from the Renaissance to the old masters and
neoclassic period, and even the Pre-Raphaelites, in a long, continuous line of artists and
the art of love.
One can imagine the elegant Greek lady who once owned the mirror, which this
cover fit over, gazing at her reflection in the mirror, as she applied her make-up or as
she arranged her hair, just as women still do today. while holding hand-mirrors.
And, no doubt, the thoughts, dreams and emotions are still the same as they were then
.........the eternal and elusive quest for beauty and attraction, and a truly lasting love.
Eugene P. McNerney
