Logo_Tornabuoni_Arte_VETTORIALE ORO NEW copiaLogo_Tornabuoni_Arte_VETTORIALE ORO NEW copiaLogo_Tornabuoni_Arte_VETTORIALE ORO NEW copiaLogo_Tornabuoni_Arte_VETTORIALE ORO NEW copia
  • Collections
    • Paintings
      • Fondi oro
      • Renaissance and Mannerism
      • Baroque
      • Neoclassicism and 19th century
    • Sculpture
      • Middle Ages
      • Renaissance and Mannerism
      • Baroque
      • Neclassicism and 19th century
    • Furniture
      • Cabinets
      • Chest of drawers
      • Chests
      • Sideboard
      • Bookcases
      • Chairs
      • Tables
      • More
    • Objects
  • Catalogues
  • News
  • Video
  • About Us
  • Contacts
  • About Us
  • Contacts
  • English
  • Italian
✕

Garden of Venus

  • Home
  • Collections
  • Paintings Baroque
  • Garden of Venus
ANTONIO FRANCHI also called IL LUCCHESE and workshop

d34

ANTONIO FRANCHI also called IL LUCCHESE

Lucca 1638-Florence 1709

Garden of Venus

oil on canvas, cm 141,5×117

 

In his biography on Antonio Franchi, a famous painter from Lucca who took the place of Justus Suttermans at the Medici court as court portraitist, Francesco Saverio Baldinucci wrote, around the year 1725: “For the Illustrious G. Prince Ferdinando of glorious memory, he colored a small painting depicting the Garden of Venus, where one could see the goddess, asleep surrounded by a number of playful amorini, and some nymphs who, taking delight in the garden, engage in various activities”. The painting, called the “Small Venus”, had been acquired by the famous member of the Medici family in 1684, and it is definitely a matter of the painting currently at the Montecitorio in Rome, that came from the Gallerie Fiorentine and that had for a long period been part of the inventory of Palazzo Pitti. This “charming and felicitous painting”, oscillating between “the Arcadian classicism of the followers of Albani” and the “humoristic style of Pietro Testa”, at the same time revealing, in the “play with light and the ‘audacious touch’, the influence of Volterrano and Coli-Gherardi, enjoyed considerable success. We are in fact aware that two copies were made, once in 1686 on the request of the Marquis Bartolomei, and again in 1689. This painting may be one of these two versions; in general lines it features the same composition as the painting now at Montecitorio, and the splendid play with lights and shades created on the cupids that are fluttering playfully around the tree from which the pretty red drapery protecting the sleeping Venus from the sun is hung, is also analogous. That it is a matter of an additional, modified version made by Franchi and his workshop is also confirmed by the fact that this painting differs in various details as for instance the presence of personalities that are completely missing from the other, or the greater abundance of fluttering draperies, like the one that is, in this painting, wound around the amorino in the foreground.

Share

In the same collection:

CARLO CERESA

d362

September 5, 2019

Portrait of young noblewoman


Read more
MAESTRO OF THE 17th CENTURY

d363

September 5, 2019

Portrait of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere


Read more
FRANCESCO CONTI

d364a

September 5, 2019

Biblical episode scene (Saul attempts to strike David with a spear)


Read more
FRANCESCO CONTI

d364b

September 5, 2019

Biblical episode scene (David flees from the palace)


Read more

Tornabuoni Arte – Arte Antica

We look forward to seeing you at the ground floor of the prestigious fourteenth-century building overlooking via Maggio. We host a rich collection of pieces from various eras and origins, both paintings, sculptures and furniture, from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

Opening hours:

-Tuesday-Saturday
9.30 am - 1 pm / 2.30 pm - 7.00 pm

Contacts:

Address: via Maggio 40r, Florence - 50125
tel. +39 055 - 2670260
fax. +39 055 - 2678032 
mail. antichita@tornabuoniarte.it
© 2020 Tornabuoni Arte. Powered by meltin'Concept
Privacy PolicyCookie Policy
Disclosure requirements for public funding: State and De Minimis aids received by this company are published in the National Register of State Aids, pursuant to art-52 of Law 234/2012, and can be consulted by entering tax code field, the CF 04466800481
Direct Link

English
  • English
  • Italian
  • English
  • Italian