Mars, Venus and Amor

From the union between the Goddess of Love and Mars, the God of War, daughter Harmonia will spring – a symbol of the vital cooperation of opposing forces. On a later copy by Van Dyck, he records Titian as the creator of this composition. It remains an open question as to whether the picture is the original work begun by the artist, then completed later on by someone else, or a workshop replica. However, the dramatic dynamism of the figures and the open brushwork in parts of the skin depictions are of remarkable artistic quality.