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17th Century Venus and Cupid with Bacchic Procession Painting Oil on Canvas

About the Item

Area of ??Bon Boullogne (Paris, 1649 - there, 1717) Venus and Cupid with Bacchic procession Measures: Oil on canvas, 64 x 94 cm - with frame 83.5 x 113 cm In the present painting Venus, softly lying on a stone seat equipped with an opulent finely decorated indigo cushion, indicates a procession of cheering cupids, in procession on the opposite side of the grassy clearing. At his side is Cupid, whose bow and quivers are held hostage by the little love lying on the ground. The goddess holds a rose in her left hand, a symbol of her graceful grace and the eternal love she is charged with dispensing. The reference to ruinism, summarized in the short severed column next to the goddess and in the historiated vase hosting an exotic agave, lyricizes the composition, palpitating with details alluding to the love idyll. The sophisticated iconography of the painting still records the presence of the golden chariot of Venus, on which a pair of doves, animals sacred to the goddess, rest; in the distant procession it is also possible to recognize Bacchus crowned with laurel on the back of a donkey or onager, which medieval bestiaries described as being of extraordinary intelligence; thus the reference to the bacchanalia becomes explicit, and more generally to the power of the loving sentiment, indispensable to human life. The particular compositional invoice, combined with such a delicate coloristic film, declares the evident French scope of this painting. If the models of the iconographic choice abound within the Italian cultural basin, just think of the works of Titian with Ninfa and Shepherd (1570-75, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum) for the landscape piece, Rosso Fiorentino with Bacchus, Venus and Love (1531-1532 , Luxembourg, Musée national d'histoire et d'art) and Alessandro Rosi with Baccanalia (c. 1670, private collection) for the theme, Alessandro Allori with Venus and Cupid (1570, Uffizi and 1575-80, Montpellier, Musée Fabre) for the total setting of the work, and finally Luca Giordano with The Rape of Europe (1675, St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum) for the pose of Venus, The present is exemplified by the pictorial ways of Bon Boullogne, an excellent exponent of the French eighteenth century. Son of art, Boullogne studied with his father together with brothers and sisters, also painters; the artistic turning point came when he left for Rome, where he stayed between 1670 and 1675, at the French Academy. The occasion, encouraged by the paternal acquaintance of Colbert, then Contrôleur Général des Finances, who was shown a painting by Boullogne depicting a Saint John, even obtained the financial support of King Louis XIV. In the capital, the artist began to devote himself to engraving, and made copies of the Raphaelesque Vatican Rooms for the Gobelins manufacture. He drew important teachings from the works of Correggio, the Carracci brothers, Domenichino and Francesco Albani; he moved to northern Italy in 1673, staying for a long time in the Lombard territory. Returning to Paris in 1675, the artist became a member of the Académie Royale, painting for Charles Le Brun and participating in the frescoes of the Grand Galerie of the Louvre. The present can be compared to several paintings by Boullogne, however, examples of his entire career. To Hippomenes and Atalanta (1699, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours) belongs the same and sophisticated plastic warp that defines the figures; in the Triumph of Neptune (again 1699, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours) the same coloristic nuance recurs; from the works Juno and Flora (1702, collections of the Palace of Versailles) and Venus and Mercury (1688, Grand Trianon collection, Chateau de Versailles) the poses of the present Venus have been obtained; finally from the Bagno di Venere (Bildegalerie Sanssouci, Potsdam) it is possible to appreciate the ruddy color of the satyr, characteristic of the chiaroscuro of Boullogne, made up of shadows that ignite the volumes, like what happens in the present amorino on the left.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 32.88 in (83.5 cm)Width: 44.49 in (113 cm)Depth: 1.97 in (5 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
    Early 17th Century
  • Date of Manufacture:
    17th Century
  • Condition:
    Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use. The painting has been cleaned.
  • Seller Location:
    Milan, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU5918226762742
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