Juno Borrowing the Belt of Venus

Vigée Le Brun painted Juno Borrowing the Belt of Venus around 1781, a mythological subject from Homer's Iliad in which the goddess Juno borrows Venus's magic girdle to enchant her husband Zeus. The mythological subject gave Vigée Le Brun a formal vehicle for the display of female beauty and the rendering of the female form that was conventionally male domain — the female nude or semi-nude within the classical tradition — while the narrative provided the academic justification required by French salon convention. The painting demonstrates her ability to operate within the full range of classical tradition alongside her commercial portrait practice.

Vigée Le Brun renders the two goddesses with luminous flesh tones and graceful composition. The soft modeling and warm palette bring sensuality to the mythological subject while maintaining the elegance expected of female subjects by a woman painter.