Mars and Venus with Cupids and a Horse (after Veronese)
after Paolo Veronese (Verona 1528 -Venice 1588)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1700 - 1799
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2019 x 1600 mm (79 1/2 x 63 in)
Place of origin
Italy
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire (Accredited Museum)
On show at
Not on show
NT 732146
Caption
Mars and Venus, with her cupid helpers, stand in a landscape setting. The goddess of love is unbuckling the armour of Mars, who is not represented as a belligerent god of war but a benign portrait of a man, with his horse, distantly resigned to the inevitable. This painting is believed to be a copy, bought by Henry Hoare II (1705-85), of an original by the Venetian artist of monumental works. The theme was a favourite of the artist or his patrons; one famous original variation exists in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and, like the original of the other Veronese copy at Stourhead, once belonged to the Emperor Rudolph II but the whereabouts of the original of this work is unknown.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Mars and Venus with Cupids and a Horse (after Veronese), 18th century. Venus is unbuckling the armour of Mars, who stands beside his horse. A cupid attempts to cover Venus with some cloth whilst another putto holds the reins of the horse.
Provenance
According to Richard Colt Hoare 2nd Bt (1758 – 1838) bought by Henry Hoare II (1705-85). Given to the National Trust along with the house, its grounds, and the rest of contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946.
Credit line
Stourhead, The Hoare Collection (The National Trust)
Makers and roles
after Paolo Veronese (Verona 1528 -Venice 1588), artist