... The same year, 1863, is also the date of the only one of Cabanel's paintings that is still well known. His almost ridiculously erotic La Naissance de Vénus - the birth of Venus - was a great success at the Salon that year and was immediately snapped up by the Emperor for his private collection. (http://godsandfoolishgrandeur.blogspot.nl/search?updated-max=2014-11-10T07:00:00-08:00&max-results=10&start=9&by-date=false)