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Omnia Vincit Amor, or The Power of Love in the Three Elements

Benjamin West American
1809
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
"Omnia vincit Amor," (Love triumphs over everything) is a quotation from Virgil’s Eclogues. Venus, the goddess of love, is shown at the left with her attributes the doves and with her small son, Amor, armed with bow and arrows, clinging to her draperies. A young deity, presumably Hymen, god of marriage, brandishes a flaming torch with his right hand and grasps in his left cords that leash an eagle. The eagle symbolizes all the creatures living in the element Air, a hippocampus stands for those of the Water, and a lion for those on Earth. The fourth element, Fire, is implicit in the goddess herself, in the winged Amores, or little Loves, and most particularly in Hymen’s flaming torch.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Omnia Vincit Amor, or The Power of Love in the Three Elements
  • Artist: Benjamin West (American, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 1738–1820 London)
  • Date: 1809
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 70 3/8 x 80 1/2 in. (178.8 x 204.5 cm)
  • Credit Line: Maria DeWitt Jesup Fund, 1923
  • Object Number: 95.22.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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