''Venus and Cupid with a Satyr'' (c. 1528) is a painting by the Italian
High Renaissance
In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...
artist
Antonio da Correggio
Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...
. It is now in the
Musée du Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
in Paris.
Background
This painting was in the 16th century in the private collection of count Nicholas Maffei. It is very likely that one of the members of the Maffei family has commissioned two paintings that they then arrived in the 17th century in the collection of the
Gonzaga family, with whom the Maffei were relatives. In fact, the son of count Nicholas Maffei, count Frederick Maffei, married Isabel, daughter of Cardinal
Ercole Gonzaga
Ercole Gonzaga (23 November 1505 – 2 March 1563) was an Italian Cardinal.
Biography
Born in Mantua, he was the son of the Marquis Francesco Gonzaga and Isabella d'Este, and nephew of Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga. He studied philosophy at Bolo ...
.
Description
The work depicts
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
sleeping with her son
Eros
In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the ear ...
. Behind them, a
satyr
In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, ex ...
is caught while discovering the goddess. The picture is often also seen as portraying
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...
and
Antiope as, according to mythology and
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...
, Jupiter had turned himself into a satyr to rape the nymph.
The painting was probably connected to Correggio's ''
Venus with Mercury and Cupid (The School of Love)'', now in the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
of London. It, or a copy of it, can be seen in the 1628 painting of the gallery of
Cornelis van der Geest, by
Willem van Haecht.
File:Willem van Haecht (II) - Apelles painting Campaspe - 2.jpg, ''The Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest'', by Haecht, shows this painting on the right wall.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Mythological paintings by Correggio
1528 paintings
Paintings in the Louvre by Italian artists
Paintings of Venus
Nude art
Paintings of Cupid
Gonzaga art collection
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