The Story of Venus and Tannhäuser: A Romantic Novel
Today we will look at Venus again, but this time through the eyes of Aubrey Beardsley.
This Indian ink drawing on paper from 1895 is by the English illustrator, Aubrey Beardsley, and served as the frontispiece to The Story of Venus and Tannhäuser: A Romantic Novel.
This illustration, done in the Art Nouveau style, was made by Beardsley for a book that he was both writing and illustrating. He was working on the book in between other projects and drew this piece just several years before his premature death at 25 years of age from tuberculosis. He died before he was able to finish the book.
Beardsley was controversial in his day. His works were often erotic, dark, sometimes bordering on the grotesque. This project was no different. The complete subtitle is “The story of Venus and Tannhäuser in which is set forth an exact account of the manner of State held by Madam Venus, Goddess and Meretrix under the famous Hörselberg, and containing the Adventures of Tannhäuser in that Place, his Repentance, his Journeying to Rome, and Return to the Loving Mountain”.
The story conveyed in the book is a pastiche, an homage to the German Minnesinger, or lyricist, Tannhäuser. According to legend, in the 1260s, Tannhäuser came upon an ornate portal that took him to Venusberg, the subterranean home of Venus, the legendary goddess of love. Tannhäuser was taken with the goddess and resided in her home for a year, worshipping her. During that time, he became one of Venus’s favorite lovers, and spent his days with her eating, drinking, listening to music, and doing debaucherous deeds.
After Tannhäuser left Venusberg, he was filled with remorse over his actions for that prior year. He was told that his debauchery was so great that only the Pope could absolve him of his sins. So, he traveled to Rome to ask the Pope for forgiveness.
In 1904, a portion of Beardsley’s unfinished work was published posthumously under the title, Under the Hill. In 1959, the story was finished by the poet, John Glassco and published in its entirety.
This frontispiece to The Story of Venus and Tannhäuser: A Romantic Novel is currently in the collections of The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum in Bedford, England.
For more on Aubrey Beardsley, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
