Venus, Cupid and Vulcan.
Oil on canvas, unframed. Some restoration to the edge.
Italy, first half of the 17th century.
The painting depicts Venus with her husband Vulcan, the god of fire and
blacksmith to the gods, with Venus' son Cupid holding a quiver full of arrows with a bow on the ground in front of him. Vulcan holds a hammer and tongs, the tools of his trade with armour at his feet, possibly meant for Venus' mortal son Aeneas to fight with in the wars against the Rutuli, written of in Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid.
The Bolognese School of painting began in the 16th century as a reaction to the increasing extravagance of mannerism and was characterised by an embrace of naturalism and return to classicism, with clear and direct imagery spearheaded by the Carracci brothers; Annibale, Ludovico and Agostino.
HEIGHT: 195 cm (6'5")
WIDTH: 143.5 cm (4'8")
£POA
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