Venus and Cupid in a Landscape

c. 1505/1515

A light-skinned woman and winged boy face each other in a verdant landscape in this horizontal painting. The pair are in the center of the composition. To our left, the woman sits in profile on a moss-green stump, facing our right in profile. She wears a tall diadem over her hip-length blond hair, and her lips are parted. She wears a shell-pink, short-sleeved gown with soft pleats. Her far leg is bent with her foot on the ground, and her near leg is slightly extended. To our right, the boy steps toward and reaches for the woman. He is nude except for a white sash that wraps around his far shoulder, across his back, under his gold wing, and around his near thigh. The ends of the sash fly out behind him. Around them, an emerald-green field is strewn with yellow and red flowers. A dead tree trunk stands to the left of the woman, and two slender trees grow to our right. Beyond the woman and child, a hill with steep sides rises to top of the composition. It is carpeted with lime-green growth, and a zigzagging, sage-green path climbs to a flat area at the top. White paths wrap around the hill to either side, and are bordered by green grasses, trees, and fields. The paths lead back to buildings and misty blue mountains in the far distance. Tiny, pale strokes of color suggest people on the hill and strolling along the paths.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 11 x 20 cm (4 5/16 x 7 7/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1939.1.142

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Contessa Falier, Asolo, Italy.[1] (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence and Rome); sold 1932 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York[2]; gift 1939 to NGA.
[1] According to Kress records in NGA curatorial files.
[2] See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2425.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1988

  • The Pastoral Landscape: The Legacy of Venice, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988-1989, no. 7, repro.

Bibliography

1941

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 79, no. 253, as by Giorgione (?).

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 244, repro. 114, as by Giorgione (?).

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 156, repro., as by Giorgione (?).

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 134, as Venetian School (Possibly Giorgione).

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 122, repro., as Venetian School (Possibly Giorgione).

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 152, fig. 371.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 360, repro., as Venetian School (Possibly Giorgione).

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:216-217; 2:pl. 147, as Follower of Giorgione.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 199, no. 234, color repro., as by Venetian School, possibly Giorgione.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 177, repro.

1997

  • Anderson, Jaynie. Giorgione: The Painter of "Poetic Brevity". New York, 1997: 344, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20175032

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