''Venus and Cupid'' is an oil on canvas painting by

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

, from 1510-1515. It is held now in the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...

, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is dated by the model for Venus, who also appeared in other 1510s works by the artist such as his ''

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

'' (

Galleria Doria-Pamphilj The Galleria Doria Pamphilj (often Doria Pamphilj Gallery or Doria Pamphili Gallery in English) is a large private art collection housed in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, between Via del Corso and Via della Gatta. The principal entr ...

Provenance

It was first recorded in the 18th century in the inventories of the

Orleans Collection The Orleans Collection was a very important collection of over 500 paintings formed by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, mostly acquired between about 1700 and his death in 1723. Apart from the great royal-become-national collections of Europe it is ...

, where it was misattributed to

Giorgione Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (; 1470s – 17 September 1510), known as Giorgione, was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work, ...

. It passed through the hands of several British collectors such as John Howard, 15th Earl of Suffolk, from 1802 to 1810, and

John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick (16 February 1770 – 20 January 1859) was an English peer, landowner and collector of art works. Rushout was the son of John Rushout, 1st Baron Northwick and his wife Rebecca Bowles. He was born at St James', ...

, from 1834 to 1838, before being bought by

Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

, in 1859, bringing it to its present home.Catalogue entry
/ref> It has been attributed to Titian or perhaps

Palma Vecchio Palma Vecchio ( – 30 July 1528), born Jacopo Palma, also known as Jacopo Negretti, was a Venetian painter of the Italian High Renaissance. He is called Palma Vecchio in English and Palma il Vecchio in Italian ("Palma the Elder") to distingu ...

Francesco Vecellio Francesco Vecellio (''c.'' 1475 – 1560) was a Venetian painter of the Italian Renaissance. Vecellio was born in Pieve di Cadore, in the Republic of Venice, in either 1475 or 1483; he was the elder brother and close collaborator of the painte ...

since the 19th century.

References

1515 paintings Paintings in the Wallace Collection Paintings of Venus Paintings of Cupid Mythological paintings by Titian {{1510s-painting-stub