Details

Literatur:
Nicholas Turner, European master drawings from Portuguese collections II: Italy and Portugal, Porto 2021, S. 54f., Kat.-Nr. 15, mit farb. Abb.

Ausstellung:
Desenhos de mestres italianos em coleções portuguesas (II), Museu Nacional Soares Dos Reis, Porto (Oktober–Dezember 2001), Kat.-Nr. 15.

Provenienz:
Amédée-Paul-Émile Gasc (1817-1866), Paris und Joigny, unten links mit dem Stempel (Lugt 1131);
dessen Bruder Charles Gasc (1822-nach 1869), Spanien und Paris, unten links mit dem Stempel (Lugt 543), 1860 von Vorgenanntem erworben (laut einer Notiz auf dem alten, nicht mehr vorliegenden Sammlungsuntersatz “Charles Gasc a acheté le dessin à son frère Paul Emile Gasc, à Joigny, dans l’Yonne, en Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, le 14 janvier 1860”);
Sotheby’s, London, Auktion, 4.7.2007, Los 46;
Europäische Privatsammlung, auf Unterlage mit dem Sammlerstempel “FB mit Ginkgoblatt im Oval” (noch nicht von Lugt/Fondation Custodia veröffentlicht).

Descrizione

Andrea Semino came from a Genoese family of painters. He was apprenticed to his father Antonio (1485-1554/5) before moving to Rome for several years with his brother Ottavio (c. 1520-1604) to study the work of Raphael and the paintings of classical antiquity. Back in Genoa, he opened his own studio and, upholding family ties, he and Ottavio accepted the commission to decorate the ambitious Palazzo Marino in Milan, which the brothers worked on from 1557-63.
This drawing’s style is within the tradition of Perino del Vaga (1501-547), who exerted a strong influence in Genoa in the mid-16th century. It shows Venus embraced by Mars, with the slumbering Cupid beside her. An unfavourable marriage arrangement negotiated by Juno had made Venus the wife of Vulcanus, the smith of the gods, who did not really want to match his glamorous wife. When Venus was struck by Cupid’s arrow of love, it was all over for her and so began the affair with the god of war, which was eventually – how could it be otherwise – discovered. The thwarted lovers made Cupid atone for the arrow he had fired by imprisoning him in the net forged by Vulcanus, which had previously held her in a captious position.
In a painting by Semino dated 1577, Venus, also nude and facing the viewer head-on, is depicted in a similar posture (Musei di Strada Nuova, Palazzo Bianco, Genoa, inv. no. PR320). Cupid reaches out for his bow, which Venus holds with a firm grip out of his reach. With her other hand she clutches his arrows, well aware of their bewitching but also ominous love spell. Drawings by the artist are very rare. – The reverse of the paper somewhat rough due to former mounting and very slightly wavy in the upper corners. In fine condition.