Lunæ Portoro
Francesco Maria Messina
Lunæ Portoro
Portoro marble, brass and bronze mirror
70.75 x 21.5 x 7.75 in
One beautiful day, according to myth, Cupid, among the clouds in Olympus, decides to secretly cut his sleeping mother’s (Venus) nails, while she is sleeping with the hip of an arrow. The three Parcas decide to transform the nails into precious stones as they could not allow any part of Venus’ divine body to be lost or destroyed: these stones became onyx. Lunæ is born from the union of this legendary stone and mirror, in a symbol linked to Venus as well as being a symbol of beauty and femininity. According to its Latin etymology, the name refers to the radiance of our white satellite which brightens the night sky and its reflected light. The moon is seen as a mirror of the sun, or as in this case, a reflection of light.
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