The Real Meaning Behind Beyonce's Artsy Birth Announcement for Her Twins

Beyonce debuted twins Rumi and Sir Carter (yeah, we still can't believe that name) on Instagram Thursday night, blessing her social media followers and fans alike. That blue veil! The gorgeous flowers reminiscent of a lush Eden! The teeny tiny humans Queen Bey is tenderly caressing in her arms!

The photo — which has over 7 million likes and counting — was taken by Mason Poole, and is rife with religious undertones. Ultimately, it's an eye-pleasing work of art.

#FeelingBlessed.

And since everything Beyonce does is intentional, you can bet her birth announcement is probably making some larger connection, too. If her internet-breaking pregnancy photo was inspired by images of the Virgin of Guadeloupe, then the birth announcement makes clear connections to Sandro Botticelli's famous work The Birth of Venus.

The Italian Renaissance painting depicts the goddess of sex, love, and fertility arriving on the shore after being born. Bey is clearing doing the Venus leg-pose thing in her birth announcement. The pink mantel the nymph is about to drape over Venus also reminds us of the one Bey dons in the snap.

Then there is the blue veil. Like the pregnancy announcement, it reminds us of the ones depicted by the Virgin Mary in so many Renaissance paintings.

But why go to such great lengths to create such an elaborate photo? For starters, it's Beyonce and she can do whatever the hell she wants because, Queen Bey (sorry, not sorry). Second, off-the-cuff birth announcements are so BORING. Ultimately, I like what Vox's Constance Grady has to say about the matter:

"Beyoncé’s choice of imagery isn’t accidental: She’s essentially deconstructing the Madonna/whore complex through her own person. The Virgin Mary traditionally stands for maternity, purity, and chastity, while Venus stands for erotic beauty and sex. In the West, we’re obsessed with keeping those two ideas separate, but Beyoncé won’t allow it. She is mother and saint and goddess of beauty and sex, all at once, and she’s doing it as a woman of color, too. That’s the kind of masterful manipulation of imagery that makes Beyoncé one of our most iconic stars."

Or maybe we're wrong and this all has some mysterious thing to do with the Illuminati.

The Real Meaning Behind Beyonce's Artsy Birth Announcement for Her Twins

The photo gives us much to unpack.