Venus and Cupid

mid 16th century

German 16th Century

Associated Names
The sculpture features a standing female figure, depicted nude, with her head turned to the side and her right arm slightly bent upwards, holding a fruit with leaves. Beside her, a small winged figure reaches up towards her. The larger figure stands next to a simplified tree trunk, providing a vertical element to the composition. The scene is crafted in a bas-relief format on a textured background. The material appears to be bronze or a similar metal, with a warm color and an aged patina. The sculpture is flat and rectangular in shape, designed to be viewed from the front, creating a narrative interaction between the figures.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze//Yellowish patina

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 12.9 x 6.9 cm (5 1/16 x 2 11/16 in.) gross weight: 194 gr

  • Accession Number

    1957.14.574


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Gustave Dreyfus [1837-1914], Paris; his estate; purchased 1930 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); purchased 1945 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; gift 1957 to NGA.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1931

  • Ricci, Seymour de. The Gustave Dreyfus Collection. Reliefs and Plaquettes. Oxford, 1931. vol.II, 440.

1965

  • Pope-Hennessy, John W. Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Reliefs, Plaquettes, Statuettes, Utensils and Mortars. London, 1965: no. 439.

1983

  • Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 158, no. 7.

2014

  • Warren, Jeremy. Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture. A Catalogue of the Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Oxford, 2014: 3:1066.

Wikidata ID

Q63814923

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