The image of the man makes him look weak according to Berger. Berger believes that the presence of a man is all exterior, and depends solely on the appearance of the man. But one must be patient when judging the appearance of the figure in a painting, making sure they do not look over any aspects that add to the figure's presence, for example Berger would say that the man on the ground in this painting would have little presence. But according to Berger a woman's presence or image is measured on basically every action she makes and every word she says. Berger says “If a woman throws a glass on the ground, this is an example of how she treats her own emotion of anger and so of how she wishes to be treated by others” (Berger 806). This would…show more content… Now these doves are put there for a reason as previously stated. But after further analysis and interpretation of this painting these birds are much more than simply a pair of birds flying together. The birds may be interpreted as a symbol representing Adonis and Aphrodite themselves. One might see the birds as symbol showing the viewer that even though Adonis is no longer living the love that the two shared is very much alive. Being expressed throughout the painting with symbols of nature, such as the the flowers spring from the ground as Aphrodite attempts to heal he lover. Or even the birds showing the viewer that their love does still flourish through the nature in the scene. To take this idea a step further one may even look at the birds as a reincarnation of Adonis and Aphrodite, even though she is not dead she is a goddess which would imply that she could project herself into the body of animals just as Apollo did with the wild boar to kill Adonis. The nature in this painting radiates with symbols of love in the flowers, birds, and even the human figures. Waterhouse hides symbolism and references in his paintings to keep his viewers constantly interpreting his work, no matter how long one looks at his paintings one can almost always find something they have not noticed before, leading to an array of new
