Offered by Antichità Castelbarco
Marcantonio Franceschini (Bologna 1648 - 1729) Workshop of
Sleeping Venus with Cupid
Oil on canvas 53 x 68 cm. In frame 71 x 91 cm.
Venus, the Roman goddess of love, is portrayed lying down, completely naked, sleeping languidly with both arms behind her head; standing next to her is her son Cupid, the god of desire, pointing to something off-screen.
The seductive image is presented to us in a hilly setting, in perfect harmony with nature, and in a measuredly sensual and dreamy atmosphere: her nudity and pose symbolise ideal beauty; she rests on white and red drapery, symbolic colours that indicate the coexistence of pure platonic love (the white sheet covering her pubic area) and passionate love (the red pillow).
It is a work of great charm, both for the subject immortalised and for the pictorial execution, showing us the distinctive characteristics of the Bolognese school and highlighting a quality of composition and design that suggests an 18th-century date of execution.
The work captures the Rococo sensibility declining into a careful classicist rigour, also presenting lexical elements drawn from early 17th-century culture typical of Domenichino and Francesco Albani: our painting draws inspiration from a work by the latter, specifically “Adonis led by Venus and the Cupids”, created in 1621 by Albani for the Duke of Mantua (Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. 12, https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010062424 ).
In our case, the author has extrapolated the detail of Venus with Cupid (bottom right in the original composition) Going into detail, we can easily link the canvas, painted in the early 18th century, to the workshop of the master Marcantonio Franceschini (Bologna 1648 - 1729), who often drew on elements from early 17th-century culture, particularly that of Francesco Albani, achieving a highly refined classicist sensibility.
The pictorial fabric, the analysis of the forms, the scenic setting, the typology of the faces and some Morellian details find clear points of contact and comparison with the artist's best work, who proved to be one of the finest interpreters of Bolognese art between the 17th and 18th centuries.
Delevery information :
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We take great care We personally take care of the packaging, to which we devote a great deal of care: each work is carefully packed, first with arti- cle material, then with a custom-made wooden box.
Should you have the desire to see this or other works in person, we would be happy to welcome you to our gallery in Riva del Garda, Viale Giuseppe Canella 18, we are always open by appointment only.
