Black Venus

A Black Martinican model whose beauty makes her central to Armand’s sculpture and Jacques’s scheme. She navigates the world of Madame Jean’s workshop, Madame Lili’s brothel, and the perilous pursuit of ownership over her image and contracts. Her fate underscores the conflict between artistic idealization and dehumanization.

A gifted yet impoverished sculptor driven by an all-consuming obsession with Venus. His artistic talent is eclipsed by jealousy and violence as he fights to retain control over the statue and the woman who inspires it. His downfall marks the destructive potential of creative passion when bound to possession.

Wealthy art collector who buys Venus and Louise, treating them as properties that enhance his status. He moves events between Paris and Spain with a cool, transactional mindset, revealing a pragmatic, uncaring attitude toward the women involved. His actions confront the moral limits of art collecting and ownership.

Owner of the brothel where Venus works, orchestrating contracts and managing clients. She embodies the commercial side of the women’s lives, providing a network that enables the exchange of bodies for money and status. Her perspective highlights the economics behind sexual exploitation.

Dressmaker whose patrons fuel Venus’s modeling work, acting as a gatekeeper between art, fashion, and exploitation. She represents the integration of craft and commerce that helps sustain Venus’s double life. Her role illustrates how beauty and labor intersect in society’s appetite for refinement.

A 17-year-old rural girl drawn into the world of Venus’s orbit and eventually into prostitution. Her experience exposes the vulnerability of young women within the sexual economy and the pressure to conform to the desires of wealthier patrons. Her journey underscores the human cost behind glamour.

A wealthy woman whose husband is often absent, part of the social circle that glitters with privilege yet harbors complicity in exploitation. Her presence signals how elite society can normalize and profit from the commodification of women. She embodies the tension between luxury and ethical ambiguity.