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Gaze Through the Pot Bellied Doorway

Nikon D700 with a Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 AF-D lens. The lens doesn't distort noticeably in normal use - I did that with Lightroom for amusement.
Nonetheless, this provides a better view of Venus and Adonis (after Cornelis van Haarlem) by Isaac Seeman (fl.1739 – London 1751) in the Dining Room of Lacock Abbey. Oil on canvas. Approx. 79 x 57 inches. 1746.
This painting shows Venus trying to stop her lover Adonis from embarking on a hunting trip. She coquettishly raises her leg to tempt him back, as Cupid hovers above. Venus's fears were fulfilled when Adonis was slain by a boar. Where the earth was stained with his blood, anemones sprouted. The prominence of the parrot, which is painted with a surprising naturalism and which does not appear in the story, is unclear. Perhaps a well-to-do person who originally commissioned the work stipulated that their parrot had to be added to the original. At least it makes it immediately clear that this is a copy.
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