Allegory, about 1560
Here the power of love is presented in the picture at an ironic distance, overpowering even Mars, the God of War. Mars, already stripped of most of his weapons – Venus leans with satisfaction against a mirror to the left – seems to look indignantly at Cupid, the originator of his defencelessness; Mars has punished Cupid by taking away his bow and arrow. The aggressive, restless colouring, the artificial body postures and fashionable accessories, and the contradiction between openly depicted eroticism and the composition’s lack of context are typical of this Mannerist phase of Venetian painting.
Here the power of love is presented in the picture at an ironic distance, overpowering even Mars, the God of War. Mars, already stripped of most of his weapons – Venus leans with satisfaction against a mirror to the left – seems to look indignantly at Cupid, the originator of his defencelessness; Mars has punished Cupid by taking away his bow and arrow. The aggressive, restless colouring, the artificial body postures and fashionable accessories, and the contradiction between openly depicted eroticism and the composition’s lack of context are typical of this Mannerist phase of Venetian painting.
Artist:
Paris Paschalinus Bordon, gen. Bordone (1500 Treviso - 1571 Venedig) DNB
Time:
1560
Object Name
Painting
Culture
Italian, Venetian
Material/technology:
Canvas
Dimensions:
110 x 176 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 69
Provenance
Coll. Leopold Wilhelm
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