Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Venus At The Mirror, 1613-14, private collection.
115. Fattening Régime
Every thin woman wishes to put on flesh; this is an ambition that has been confided to us a thousand times. It is therefore as a final tribute to the all-powerful sex that we shall not look for means of replacing by real shapes those artificial charms, in silk or cotton, which may be seen lavishly displayed in the fashion shops, to the great scandal of the prudish, who pass by horrified and avert their gaze from these chimeras with as much and more care than if the reality was visible to their eyes.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Diana and Callisto, 1639, Prado Museum, Madrid.
Text: Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Philosopher in the Kitchen, tr. Anne Drayton, New York, Penguin, 1970.
Paul Anka: Diana (Link)
Television: Venus (Link)
