\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 This painting can be considered a significant example of the art that was most popular at the official exhibitions of the Pa
ris Salon in the second half of the nineteenth century. Mythological and historical themes prevailed and there was an abundance of paintings with attractive female nudes. BouguereauÆs painting also centers on the figure of Venus, whose beauty derives f
rom an ideal of perfection that is modeled on the work of Ingres and Raphael.