Venuše zrozená s Botticellim

The sculpture was inspired by The Birth of Venus, painted by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli at the end of the 15th century. The painting shows Venus, the Roman goddess, carried on a shell after her birth from the sea foam, and beyond the myth itself it holds many other meanings. Venus is a symbol of beauty, fertility, love and sexuality. The naked goddess is linked with both earthly and spiritual love, and is sometimes connected with the Virgin Mary. Kuzica's statue could be linked with her too — specifically with the Black Madonna of the biblical Song of Songs or the Greek Septuagint: “I am black, but beautiful (comely).”

Kuzica's Venus resembles Botticelli's painting not only in her chaste stance and the melancholy look on her face; the connection also lies in the drapery polished to gold that covers the goddess's hair. It is not in the painting, but the painting is decorated with gold in many places, recalling the divine nature of Venus as a symbol of perfection and warm love.