Abstract: The present article offers a close reading of “Venus Anadyomène”. Though this sonnet is understandably perceived as scandalous from an aesthetic standpoint, we argue that it takes aim at one of the most important and successful poets of its time. Re-read with its historical context in mind, the poem may even be seen as mobilizing the “Venus from the Waves” myth in order to take aim at one of the key figures of the Second Empire.
