The Feast of Venus is a painting by Rubens, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is a fanciful depiction of the Roman festival Veneralia celebrated in honor of Venus Verticordia.

Rubens thought highly of Titian and made a copy of the Venetian master's The Worship of Venus which remained in Rubens' private collection until his death. Titian's work, in turn, was based on the Imagines of the sophist Philostratus of Lemnos. The Imagines consisted of a series of descriptions of ancient paintings presumably decorating a third-century villa near Naples. In the description entitled Cupids (Erotes), Philostratus portrays a "swarm" of cupids in a fragrant garden gathering apples, kissing the apples and throwing them back and forth, engaging in archery using themselves as targets since the arrows are arrows of love, wrestling, and chasing a hare (a symbol of fertility). While the cupids are cavorting, nymphs are attending to a statue of Venus that is garnished with a silver mirror, gilded sandals, and golden brooches. Both Titian and Rubens in his copy depict most of this activity in great detail.

The fourth book (April) of Ovid's Fasti also served as inspiration for Rubens' The Feast of Venus. The poem describes a women's festival held on April 1 to honor both Venus Verticordia and Fortuna Virilis. Ovid first describes the ritual cleaning and ornamentation of the cult statue of Venus:

He then narrates why the rite of bathing under boughs of myrtle is sacred and explains that an offering of incense to Fortuna Virilis will make a woman appear more desirable to men:

Ovid describes the mixture of crushed poppies, milk, and honey that is drunk in honor of Venus's wedding night and gives the reason for the rite - Venus holds the key to a woman's beauty, virtue, and honor:

He concludes by describing the origins of the festival and Venus's epithet and by reciting a prayer:

Ovid's Fasti, not always corroborated by other sources, portrays a somewhat conflicted account of the festival that blurs distinctions between class and the rite's purpose. Primarily, the cult was intended to turn a woman's heart from lust (libidine) to chastity (pudicitia) so that she may retain her "beauty, virtue and good repute." However, Ovid did not include only brides and mothers in his account. In the second line of his poem, he specifies "you who must not wear the headbands and long robes". This is a euphemistic reference to prostitutes (meretrices) who were not allowed to wear the hairstyle and clothes of a respectable matron. Instead, they wore a short tunic and toga. Prostitutes were not being asked to embrace chastity, so their participation must have served other purposes.

Rubens combined key elements of Imagines and Fasti along with details of his own invention to create a spirited allegory of conjugal bliss where "voluptuous sensuality is joined and enhanced by the propriety of marriage."

A statue of Venus Verticordia in a pudica pose is the focal point of the work. She is surrounded by attendants who, in turn, are encircled by dancing and cavorting cupids, satyrs, nymphs, and maenads. Rubens includes all three of Ovid's classes of women in his work. The well-clothed matrons are shown performing rites. One washes the statue while the other, in an attitude of prayer, offers incense from a flaming tripod to Fortuna Virilis. The sea of dancing cupids has momentarily parted to allow two eager brides bearing dolls as offerings to rush to the goddess. The prostitutes are also present. Naked except for fluttering draperies, they stand at the foot of Venus. One clutches a comb while holding up a mirror so that the goddess can view herself. The temple of Venus is shown in the background behind a grotto in which a stream of water cascades into an overflowing basin. Rubens does not depict any of the celebrants ritually bathing as described by Ovid, but the basin in the grotto alludes to that practice.

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