Venus in Vulcan's Forge
after François Boucher (Paris 1703 – Paris 1770)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1800 - 1899
Materials
Oil on papier-mâché
Measurements
371 x 549 mm (14 5/8 x 21 5/8 in)
Place of origin
France
Order this imageCollection
Upton House, Warwickshire
NT 446776
Caption
Venus, symbolised by her doves, and her son, Cupid, is shown with her husband Vulcan, the blacksmith of the gods. His blazing forge is shown in the background. This picture is a sketched copy of the rectangular version in the Louvre, Paris. It is, very unusually, painted on papier mâché, which along with the colouring, suggests it was made in the 19th century.
Summary
Oil painting on papier-mâché, Venus in Vulcan's Forge, after François Boucher (Paris 1703 – Paris 1770). Vulcan is seated on a red cloak in the centre, holding a sword and hammer; he looks over his left shoulder to Venus, who stands behind him; in front of her Cupid is seated with a dove by an anvil; right, two youths hold up to Vulcan a helmet and a cuirass; in the left back-ground two smiths at a forge. This is a sketch-copy of a painting in the Louvre (La Caze 161) which is signed and dated 1747 but the bizarre support of this sketch, and its colouring, suggest that it was made in the 19th, rather than in the 18th century
Provenance
Previous history and date of acquisition by Lord Bearsted unrecorded; given with Upton House to the National Trust by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted (1882 – 1948), in 1948, shortly before his death
Credit line
Upton House, The Bearsted Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
after François Boucher (Paris 1703 – Paris 1770), artist
References
Gore 1964: F. St John Gore, Upton House, The Bearsted Collection: Pictures National Trust, 1964, p. 58, no. 179