FRENCH ARTIST FROM THE 18th CENTURY
Venus and Adonis
oil on canvas, cm 37×42
Venus and Adonis are abandoning themselves to the joys of love, in a glade shielded by a dense forest. Cupids are playing cheerfully around them, crowning the pair with flowers, while the weapons and preys of the young hunters are lying on the ground. A carriage pulled by swans, parked on a cloud, is waiting for the goddess of love. Their happiness will be short-lived. Mars will soon have his rival in love killed by a boar, and Adonis will end in the Realm of the Dead, from where he will return once a year, thanks to an agreement between Venus and Persephone, giving rise to the succession of the seasons.
The painting, which probably belongs to the French school, illustrates the myth with a pleasant and confident style. It may be dated to the central decades of the Eighteenth century, a period in which motifs inspired by amorous themes abounded, especially north of the Alps.