Venus (birth)

Ihuahua, Cheour de femmes Yaulapiti, 20x10

Compared to some other well know renaissance masterworks, the Venus by Botticelli didn't quite live up to my expectations, when I finally saw it in Florence last year. My best memory of the Botticelli's Venus was a little statuette at a souvenir stand just outside the Uffifzi. I had to have it. While the painting doesn't show the back, obviously, a statuette has to, because it's 3-D.

One of my most listened to albums of the year is called: Brésil vol. 1 - Musique Indienne du Brésil (1968), the song Ihuahua is listed highest. The performers of Ihuahua are represented by a photograph on the back sleeve of the album sleeve, which was recorded by Simone Dreyfus in 1957. Really, anyone from this photo (by Dreyfus) would have made a good model for the "Venus" painting.

Simone Dreyfus, Yaulapiti – Ihuahua, photo