Finished watching that fascinating music video? Good, because I would like to point out the art history references found in the lyrics. As you read, you will find that I copied and pasted the two examples originally found in the video’s YouTube caption section.
Reading the lyrics, I was, for lack of a better word, curious by Gabriel’s lament of women who adopted a sort of Nouveau Riche lifestyle. Particularly woman who are goddesses and real life women who have gained an almost mythical and mysterious reputation.
“I trusted my Venus was untouched in her shell But the pearls, the pearls in her oyster were as tacky as hell”
I have to wonder which artwork Gabriel intended to reference, the Botticelli or an earlier Roman fresco.
“In Paris my heart sink when I see my Mona Lisa She gives me the wink, then she show me the freezer Aah the pain Modern love can be a strain Aah the pain Modern love can be a strain”
Leonardo da Vinci [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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Art History Ramblings 
[…] Starting at 3:07, you will see that Gabriel’s version of “Heaven” has figures from Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus/Primavera and Agnolo Bronzino’s Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time. Of course, the filmmakers would use Venus as an allegory for a song about desiring wealth and succeeding at life, for the goddess stood for the same values. Also, this is another instance of Peter Gabriel interacting with Venus. […]