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(piano music)

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Man: Pleasure often comes with[br]a cost, with a little pain.

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Lucas Cranach the elder[br]reminds us of us of that

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in his painting, Cupid[br]Complaining to Venus.

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Woman: We see Cupid who[br]has reached for a honeycomb

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only to be stung by a whole set of bees.

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He's looking up at[br]Venus his mother in pain

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as though he's pleading for her sympathy.

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Man: She doesn't seem to be paying[br]attention to him at all however.

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Instead, she is looking out[br]at us as a sultry seducer.

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Woman: There is no denying the[br]eroticism of this painting,

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of her body, of her look toward us,

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the way that she[br]positions her legs between

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that branch, the way that she reaches[br]up toward the apples on the tree,

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reminding us of Eve[br]and the Garden of Eden.

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Man: So this is really[br]a bit of a composite.

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You have on the one hand this[br]reference back to antiquity.

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You have Venus the goddess[br]of love and beauty.

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You have her son Cupid. These[br]are all classical references.

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In fact, in the top you have[br]a translation from the Latin,

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which actually speaks to the relationship

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between pain and pleasure,

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yet we also have this very dramatic image

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with this dark forest on the left

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and fashions actually that[br]relate to the Saxon court.

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Woman: Cranach was court[br]painter to the electors,

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the rulers of Saxony.

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Man: Who actually[br]commissioned this painting.

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Woman: And so the woman here, Venus,

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although she's the pagan[br]goddess of love as you said,

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is wearing the headdress and necklaces

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of an Aristocratic woman[br]at the court in Saxony.

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Man: It's a little bit vampy[br]to have this nude woman wear

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both jewelry and that wild headdress.

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Woman: And be utterly nude otherwise.

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Man: Yeah it is. She is[br]painted so seductively

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that he really is challenging[br]us with the moral issues

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of our lust.

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Woman: Of whether the[br]pleasure is worth the pain.

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Man: Exactly.

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Woman: So on the left we[br]have a German forest with

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stag and a doe and on[br]the right a very deep

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landscape with a lovely[br]reflection in the river.

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Man: You can see in that water two swans

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and the reflection of a[br]house with a red roof.

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Beyond that is wonderfully fanciful cliffs

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and there is a castle up at the top.

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There is a house that is[br]cantilevered over on the right side.

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Woman: And the castle on the river itself.

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Man: With the beautiful[br]reflection in that still water.

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Woman: This is an Aristocratic image.[br]This is an image of castles on rivers.

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It feels German to me in so many ways.

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The forest, the rivers, the castles.

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Man: And yet in the foreground[br]you have this wonderful

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classicized literary reference.

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And it's not only sexual but[br]it's also really playful.

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Let's not forget about[br]the complaining infant.

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(piano music).