Lot Essay
The title Venere Lucifera is a mix of Italian and Latin meaning "Venus bearing light." In astrological and classical texts, Lucifer is the name for the planet Venus when it appears at dawn as the morning star; the expression has nothing to do with the devil or satanism.
The woman depicted is evidently Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Superimposed on top of her face and bust are two charts: one is an astral map showing the position of stars and planets; the other is a rectangle divided according to the Golden Section. The lines of the astral map rise to form a pyramid whose apex is a point between Venus's eyes. Like many of the women in Graham's pictures, Venus is cross-eyed, and wounded in the neck. Inscribed in a line across her clavicle are two expressions, "LA DIVINA PROPORTIONE," which is Italian for "the divine proportion," and "AUREA MEDIOCRITAS," which is Latin for the "Golden Mean." Also inscribed on the picture are the symbols for "pi" and "phi" and their numerical values. Graham signed the picture above her right shoulder in Latin: "IOANNUS PHOTIUS MAGUS SERVUS DOMINI DOCTORJURISUTRIUSQUE ET ST GEORGII EQUITUS CONTEDI SANGERMANO SUM QUI SUM." This means, "Johannes Photius, Magus, Servant of God, Doctor of Jurisprudence and Knight of the Order of St. George, San Germano, I am who I am." One of the personae Graham used as an alter ego, Photius, was a priest and classical scholar who served as the Patriarch of Constantinople in the ninth century; San Germano, another of his personae, was a magus in the seventeenth century. "I am who I am" is, of course, what Jehovah says in the Old Testament.
The picture is a summa of many key themes in Graham's personal philosophy and mythology. Graham creates a syncretic mix of ideas from classical, astrological, Christian, Renaissance and eastern sources. Unmistakably, the image expresses the Pythagorean and Platonic ideals that beauty is the product of universal proportions, and that the contemplation of beauty leads to understanding of higher (and inner) truth. In a characteristic move, one way Graham illustrates this point is by showing lines rising from the planets and stars to Venus's "third eye." This combines the Platonic idea that the path of contemplation rises from the many to the one, with the Buddhist and Yogi idea that the "third eye" (sixth chakra in Sanskrit) is the seat of spiritual insight. In this context, the image of Venus as the dawn star suggests that beauty leads to enlightenment.
The inscription is part of the philosophic conceit. In it Graham calls himself a magus, which is a Renaissance term for a wise man, expert in the hidden secrets of philosophy and nature. Magi often were alchemists or astrologers, and always dabbled in neo-platonic, hermetic, or magical knowledge. Leonardo da Vinci, Giordano Bruno, and Pico della Mirandola were among the Renaissance figures that Graham admired as magi.
The woman depicted is evidently Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Superimposed on top of her face and bust are two charts: one is an astral map showing the position of stars and planets; the other is a rectangle divided according to the Golden Section. The lines of the astral map rise to form a pyramid whose apex is a point between Venus's eyes. Like many of the women in Graham's pictures, Venus is cross-eyed, and wounded in the neck. Inscribed in a line across her clavicle are two expressions, "LA DIVINA PROPORTIONE," which is Italian for "the divine proportion," and "AUREA MEDIOCRITAS," which is Latin for the "Golden Mean." Also inscribed on the picture are the symbols for "pi" and "phi" and their numerical values. Graham signed the picture above her right shoulder in Latin: "IOANNUS PHOTIUS MAGUS SERVUS DOMINI DOCTORJURISUTRIUSQUE ET ST GEORGII EQUITUS CONTEDI SANGERMANO SUM QUI SUM." This means, "Johannes Photius, Magus, Servant of God, Doctor of Jurisprudence and Knight of the Order of St. George, San Germano, I am who I am." One of the personae Graham used as an alter ego, Photius, was a priest and classical scholar who served as the Patriarch of Constantinople in the ninth century; San Germano, another of his personae, was a magus in the seventeenth century. "I am who I am" is, of course, what Jehovah says in the Old Testament.
The picture is a summa of many key themes in Graham's personal philosophy and mythology. Graham creates a syncretic mix of ideas from classical, astrological, Christian, Renaissance and eastern sources. Unmistakably, the image expresses the Pythagorean and Platonic ideals that beauty is the product of universal proportions, and that the contemplation of beauty leads to understanding of higher (and inner) truth. In a characteristic move, one way Graham illustrates this point is by showing lines rising from the planets and stars to Venus's "third eye." This combines the Platonic idea that the path of contemplation rises from the many to the one, with the Buddhist and Yogi idea that the "third eye" (sixth chakra in Sanskrit) is the seat of spiritual insight. In this context, the image of Venus as the dawn star suggests that beauty leads to enlightenment.
The inscription is part of the philosophic conceit. In it Graham calls himself a magus, which is a Renaissance term for a wise man, expert in the hidden secrets of philosophy and nature. Magi often were alchemists or astrologers, and always dabbled in neo-platonic, hermetic, or magical knowledge. Leonardo da Vinci, Giordano Bruno, and Pico della Mirandola were among the Renaissance figures that Graham admired as magi.