The Birth of Venus, Alexandre Cabanel, 1863. Oil paint on canvas. Musee d'Orsay, Paris. Amid soft, foamy crests and undulating waves, a voluptuous female form emerges from the sea, born of the gods and destined to be a universal symbol of perfection and beauty. She is Venus, the ideal woman. She slowly awakens, seeming to stretch out upon the waves that slowly move her to shore, as putti, or cherubs, herald her arrival with music and celebratory gestures. Cabanel’s painting f