Ah springtime - a time for men to slough of the winter's accumulated ill-will, and robe themselves in pastel and khaki resplendence.
That wasps nest in Botticelli's Venus and Mars (see it there to the right of Mars' head) is most likely an homage to the Vespucci (derived from vespa, the Italian word for wasp) family whose patronage made this work possible. The theme is clearly that love, in this case personified in Venus (but you knew that already), has the power to temper the warrior's wrath. though it seems more likely it was the influence of Bacchus that brought about Mars' rather undignified sleep. Similarly, if we are to believe that Mars sleeps on account of love - he has dropped his guard with his head next to a wasps nest (here most closely representative of patronage/money - now what, pray tell, does that say about love?).
In any event - the sun is shining so satyrs be damned.
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