The Awakening of Venus

1769

Louis-Marin Bonnet after François Boucher

Associated Names
Louis-Marin Bonnet

Artist, French, 1736 - 1793

François Boucher

Artist After, French, 1703 - 1770

The image shows a woman reclining on a bed draped with fabric. She has a serene expression, with her legs extended and torso slightly turned. Her right arm supports her, and she holds flowers near her hip. Her hair is styled in loose curls with flowers. A white dove rests near her hand. The woman is partially draped with fabric, with much of her upper body exposed. The background features draped fabric, creating an ornate setting. The color palette is soft and pastel, adding to the ethereal quality of the image.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pastel manner printed in black, red, white, yellow, and blue on blue paper

  • Credit Line

    Katharine Shepard Fund

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 31.2 x 39.3 cm (12 5/16 x 15 1/2 in.)
    image: 28.1 x 38.2 cm (11 1/16 x 15 1/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1998.63.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Herold 1935, no. 20, State i/v

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(André Candillier, Paris); purchased 1998 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2003

  • Colorful Impressions: The Printmaking Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2003-2004, no. 18, as The Awakening of Venus by Louis-Marin Bonnet after François Boucher.

Bibliography

1935

  • Herold, Jacques. Louis-Marin Bonnet (1735-1793): Catalogue de l'oeuvre grave. Paris: La Societe pour l'etude de la gravure Francaise, 1935.

2003

  • Colorful Impressions: The Printmaking Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2003-2004: no. 18.

Inscriptions

by later hand, lower right verso in graphite: 92/712/2

Wikidata ID

Q75418367

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