Venus with Cupid Stealing Honey
1530
Lucas Cranach the Elder serves up a cheeky lesson in romance here. A statuesque Venus, sporting her signature high forehead and elaborate headdress, looks on calmly as a chubby Cupid recoils from a bee sting after trying to steal honey. It’s a perfect visual metaphor: love is sweet like honey, but it hurts! The Latin text at the top drives the point home, warning that fleeting pleasure is always mixed with pain. Cranach was obsessed with this theme, painting numerous versions of this scene that basically served as the 16th-century equivalent of a relatable meme about the troubles of love.