On view
Duane Wilder Gallery
Venus and Amor,
ca. 1518–20
The Roman goddess of love, Venus, and her son and the god of desire, Cupid, look out at the viewer, their pale skin luminous against a dark background. Cupid raises a diaphanous veil to his eyes, but it blinds him no more than Venus’s drapery covers her nudity. Above Venus, a Latin inscription reads: “Once upon a time risen from the foam of the sea, I, Venus, was wafted ashore / Now, O Lucas, do I live reborn, thanks to your foam.” The ambiguities of the text have led to different interpretations, including “foam” as a reference to paint.
Cranach updated this ancient subject by showing Venus with a necklace and a pearl hairband that were in fashion at the Saxon court in Wittenberg, Germany, where he was a painter for most of his career. By modernizing Venus’s appearance, Cranach presented contemporary heterosexual male viewers with a moral challenge of confronting lust.
Information
ca. 1518–20
Johann Peter Weyer, Cologne, probably his sale, 1852. [1]
Dr. Isambert, Paris, his sale 9 March, 1877, lot 17.[2]
Jean Dollfus, Paris, his sale, April 1, 1912, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, lot 1; [3]
Acquired by E. Artus at the above sale.[4]
J. Goudstikker, Amsterdam, by 1926, inv. No. 1666.[5]
Prof. A. H. Kleiweg van Zwaan, Amsterdam; [6]
Bought by Frederick Mont from Prof. van Zwaan.[7]
Bought from Mr. Mont by Princeton (1968) [8]
Notes
1. According to Beschreibung des Inhalts der Sammlung von Gemälde Älterer Meister des Herrn Johann Peter Weyer, Cologne, 1852, no. 44.
2. Per label on reverse and the Dollfus auction catalogue.
3. Auction catalogue.
4. Robert A. Koch, "‘Venus and Amor’ by Lucas Cranach the Elder," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 28, no. 1 (1969): 54–57, https://doi.org/10.2307/3774411, and according to annotations on the Dollfus sale catalogue.
5. Catalogue Collection Goudstikker, Amsterdam. 10e Exposition dans les Locaux de "Pulchri Studio", Lange Voorhout 15, Le Haye. 13 Mars – 14 Avril, 1926, Catalogue no. 30. Inventory number from label on reverse.
6. Koch, "‘Venus and Amor’ by Lucas Cranach the Elder," (1969).
7. Koch, "‘Venus and Amor’ by Lucas Cranach the Elder," (1969).
- Tableaux anciens et modernes de la collection de feu le Dr Isambert... vente 9 mars 1877..., (Paris?: Hotel Drouot?, 1877)., p. 9, no. 17
- Exposition de tableaux, statues et objets d'art au profit de l'Oeuvre des orphelins d'Alsace-Lorraine, (Paris: Imprimeries réunies C., 1885)., p. 33, no. 91
- Hippolyte Mireur, Dictionnaire des ventes d'art faites en France et à l'étranger pendant les XVIIIme & XIXme siècles, (Paris: Maison D’Éditions d’œuvres artistiques, Ch. de Vincenti, 1911-12)., Vol. 2: p. 311
- Catalogue des tableaux anciens ..., objets d'art & de curiosité ... ; tapisseries ..., dependant des Collections de M. Jean Dollfus, (Paris: Galerie Charpentier, 1912)., p. 23, no. 1 (illus.)
- Catalogue Collection Goudstikker, Amsterdam: 10e exposition dans les locaux de "Pulchri Studio", (Amsterdam: [Goudstikker?], 1930)., no. 28
-
Max J. Friedländer, Die Gemalde von Lucas Cranach, (Berlin: Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft, 1932).
, p. 49, no. 98e - Jacques Thuiller, "Poussin et ses premieres compagnons Francais a Rome" in Andre Chastel, ed., Nicholas Poussin, (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1960).
- Alfreda J. Murck, "Acquisitions 1968", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 27, no. 2 (1968): p. 94-105., p. 100
- A group of paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 1969)., no. 1 (illus.)
- Robert A. Koch, "Venus and Amor by Lucas Cranach the Elder", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 28, no. 1 (1969): p. 54-57., p. 56; p. 55 (illus.)
- William S. Heckscher, "Petites perceptions: an account of sortes Warburgianae", Journal of medieval and Renaissance studies 4, (1974): p. 101-132., p. 115-117
- Max J. Friedlander and Jacob Rosenberg, The paintings of Lucas Cranach, (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1978)., p. 93, no. 116 (illus.)
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 74
-
Anne Sulzbach, Cranach der Ältere: eine Einführung ab 12 Jahren, (Frankfurt am Main: Städel-Museum, 2007).
, p. 104, fig. 7 - Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 135 (illus.)
- Guido Messling, De wereld van Lucas Cranach: een kunstenaar ten tijde van Dürer, Titiaan en Metsys, (Tielt: Lannoo [u.a.], 2010).
- Anna Coliva Bernard Aikema, Cranach: l'altro rinascimento. (Milano: 24 Ore Cultura, 2010)., p. 204, 205 (illus.), 206
-
Anna Coliva and Bernard Aikema, eds., Cranache: l'altro rinasciment, (Rome: Galleria Borghese, 2011).
, p. 204-5 (illus.)
