As the media loves to point out, our perceptions of realistic, attainable beauty standards have been radically changed by the ubiquity of Photoshop, adolescent runway models, and deceptive advertising.  What if the aesthetic standards of  our modern society had belonged to the great artists of the past?  Italian fashion model and artist Anna Utopia Giordano has created ‘Venus’, ten works that combine aesthetic harmony with the contemporary eye.  She has transformed classic Zaftig representations of the goddess Venus into slender, slim-waisted, busty waifs.  The result is strangely haunting.

Anna Utopia Giordano's Photoshop transformations of classic masterpieces are on the right. From top The Birth of Venus by Alexandre Cabanel, The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, Venus at her Mirror by Diego Velazquez, The Sleeping Venus by Artemisia Gentilischi.

For more information, please visit Giordano’s website.

-Jayme Catalano