Venus and Mercury

c.1600

Jan Muller, after Bartholomaeus Spranger

Associated Names
Jan Muller

Artist, Netherlandish, 1571 - 1628

Herman Jansz Muller

Publisher, Netherlandish, c. 1540 - 1617

Bartholomaeus Spranger

Artist After, Netherlandish, 1546 - 1611

This is a drawing of mythological figures in a complex composition. The artwork illustrates a dynamic scene featuring classical figures, including winged cherubs, drapery, and other mythological elements. The central composition is marked by strong diagonal lines created by the figures' limbs and flowing fabric. The figures are depicted with detailed musculature and an emphasis on movement, captured in intricate lines and shading typical of engravings. The cherubs are depicted with playful expressions, holding attributes like a staff and wings. Overall, the drawing exhibits a sense of drama and baroque intricacy.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    plate: 40.2 x 28 cm (15 13/16 x 11 in.)
    sheet: 42.7 x 30.8 cm (16 13/16 x 12 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.584

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein, no. 68, State ii/iv

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Paul Prouté, S.A., Paris); Ruth Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased March 23, 1985; Gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2013

  • Northern Mannerist Prints from the Kainen Collection, NGA, 2013 - 2014.

Bibliography

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Vols. I-XV, XVIII, XIX. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger: no. 63, only

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. (The Muller Dynasty, Jan Piet Filedt Kok, author). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Publishers, 1999: no. 68, ii/iv.

Inscriptions

in image, at bottom left: B / Sprangers Antus inuent.; in image, at bottom right: Joan Muller sculp.; below image: Ad Veneris furtum faciunt vt pocula Bacchi, / Sic facit et plectro lingua diserta suo. / Exemplum est buius cursor Cyllenius artis, / Vt nouit viuis Ida perennis aquis; below image, at bottom right: JMuller. excud. Amster.

Watermarks

Strasburg Lily in Shield with WR below

Wikidata ID

Q76557244

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