In 1996, Venus' apparitions were divided into two almost symmetrical halves, the first of which was a high altitude appearance in the evening sky until May, and the second of which was a similar appearance in the morning sky throughout the summer and autumn.  In the middle was an inferior conjunction very close to the Sun, in fact this is the final such inferior conjunction prior to the the first of two that are transits (2004 and 2012).  Here we see Venus as it has just begun to circle back toward the Sun as part of its retrograde motion. Unannotated image