Venus, Cupid and Mars
Venus, Cupid and Mars is a 1633 oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Baroque painter Guercino, commissioned by Francesco I d'Este for his Ducal Palace of Sassuolo around 1632–1633, when the artist was in that city to paint portraits of the d'Este family.[1] It is now in the Galleria Estense in Modena.
History[edit]
The final payment for the work was made on 18 January 1634, with Guercino receiving the balance from Cesare Cavazza, the court chamberlain or 'guardarobiere', a sum equal to 126 scudi – the advance on the work is unknown but was probably about 30 scudi.[1] Guercino's biographer Carlo Cesare Malvasia states it was the first he produced in 1634, "Made for a gentleman in Modena, a canvas to give to the Most Serene [Duke] of that place, showing a Venus with an archer Cupid sitting by her, and a Mars".[1] A document of November 1633 from Guercino to Cavazza refers to a painting then in progress for the duke, hoping to finish it soon and deliver it before Christmas that same year, as most probably happened given the payment date.[1]
It was recorded in the 'camera dei Sogni' in the palace between 1692 and 1694[1] before Francesco III d'Este took it to Modena after selling a huge chunk of the family collection to Augustus III of Saxony in 1745–1746.[2] The French seized the work in 1796 and retained it until 1815, when it rejoined those which had remained in the Este collection in its present home.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e (in Italian) P. Bagni, D. De Grazia, D. Mahon, F. Gozzi and A. Emiliani, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri Il Guercino 1591-1666, a cura di Denis Mahon, Bologna, Nuova Alfa Editoriale, 1991, ISBN 9788877792846, p. 212.
- ^ (in Italian) "Venere, Marte e Amore". Gallerie Estensi. 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2022-08-23.