A visitor to the current Botticelli Exhibition in the Städel Art Gallery in Frankfurt remarked in an article that he had always considered Botticelli’s paintings of women modern-day “pin-ups.” Another art-lover, Kia Vahland, was not impressed. She wrote in the Frankfurter Rundschau last week that it is Botticelli’s paintings of men that are far more interesting.
“You could say that Botticelli (1445–1510) did more for the male eros than he did for the female. He gave men the gift of vulnerability, as we see in the London painting – sadly not included in this exhibition – of Venus and Mars, where the two gods are depicted lying in the grass: she, immaculately styled, dressed to go, looking watchfully in the direction of her lover, very much in control of the situation even directly after sex. The warrior on the other hand is naked, fast asleep, completely lost to the world; powerless against the child satyrs who are making a mockery of his weapon.”
Eric Koch’s new book, The Weimar Triangle, is available at Indigo-Chapters and in your local bookstore. 
Botticelli was a man of excellent taste.
Awesome – very interesting issue. I am goin to write about it likewise!!
Good Luck!