NARRATOR:
Jacopo Palma il Vecchio, like his better-known contemporaries Giorgione and Titian, has often been credited with revolutionizing Venetian painting in the early 16th century. He specialized in the depiction of idealized women, often in lush, Arcadian settings. This Venus and Cupid in a Landscape from about 1515 shows the Roman goddess almost nude, reclining against a mossy rock, with her son Cupid by her side. Her sensuous body is spread out against a landscape filled with luxuriant flora and fauna.
Only a few years earlier, Giorgione had first depicted Venus as a reclining nude, an approach quickly embraced by other artists. Here, Palma Vecchio depicted the goddess in fluid brushstrokes, emphasizing her soft, seductive contours and smooth flesh. The landscape, in contrast, is captured with almost scientific accuracy, each form sharply delineated. Don’t miss, for example, the minutely rendered birds amongst the flowers and grasses or the rabbit peering out beneath Venus’ white drapery. Such details, along with the cool, pearlescent colors suggest that Palma Vecchio may have been assisted by a Northern landscape painter. In the 16th century, there was a tremendous amount of exchange between Venetians and other European painters, and many Dutch, Flemish and German artists worked in Venice.
The figure of Cupid with his bow and arrow in the very center of the composition reminds us that the theme of the image is love. At some point in the picture’s history, the infant was painted over, only to be uncovered after the canvas became part of the Norton Simon collection. Conservators decided to restore his image, in keeping with Palma Vecchio’s original intentions.
Venus and Cupid in a Landscape
c. 1515
Jacopo Palma il Vecchio (Italian, 1480-1528)
On View
Palma il Vecchio shared, with Giorgione and Titian, the honor of modernizing and regenerating Venetian painting. Palma specialized in portrayals of women, showing them clothed and unclothed in half-length and recumbent poses. These were created expressly for private clients. Venus and Cupid in a Landscape illustrates this sensual side of Palma's art. The figure of Cupid was painted over sometime in the painting's history and was uncovered during restoration in the 1970s. The precise delineation of the flora and fauna and the cool blue tones of the landscape suggest that Palma was farmiliar with the works of Northern artists. The warm flesh tones and pale shadows of the monumental, sedate Venus serve as a sensuous foil to the sharply observed landscape.
Details
- Artist Name: Jacopo Palma il Vecchio (Italian, 1480-1528)
- Title: Venus and Cupid in a Landscape
- Date: c. 1515
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 35 x 65 3/4 in. (88.9 x 167.0 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation, Gift of Jennifer Jones Simon
- Accession Number: M.1996.1.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Donaldson, sold May 1911 to;
Julius Böhler, Munich, and Stein, (stock nos. 11822 and 1329), sold March 1916 to;
Marczell von Nemes, Budapest and Munich.
Captain and Mrs. Folke Sandström, Stockholm, by 1959.
Lennart Akerblom, Göteborg, Sweden, by 1962 (sale, Göteborg, Auktionsverk, 23 March 1976, lot 334, ill., as circle of Palma il Vecchio, to);
Norton Simon, N.76.12.P., bequest 1993 to;
Jennifer Jones Simon Art Trust, gift 1996 to;
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Julius Böhler, Munich, and Stein, (stock nos. 11822 and 1329), sold March 1916 to;
Marczell von Nemes, Budapest and Munich.
Captain and Mrs. Folke Sandström, Stockholm, by 1959.
Lennart Akerblom, Göteborg, Sweden, by 1962 (sale, Göteborg, Auktionsverk, 23 March 1976, lot 334, ill., as circle of Palma il Vecchio, to);
Norton Simon, N.76.12.P., bequest 1993 to;
Jennifer Jones Simon Art Trust, gift 1996 to;
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
- Nicolson, Benedict, The Burlington Magazine, p. 32
- Seilern, Antoine, Italian Paintings and Drawings at 56 Princes Gate London SW7, 1959, no. 2 p. 9
- Mariacher, Giovanni, Palma il Vecchio, 1968, no. 83
- Braham, Helen, The Princes Gate Collection, 1981, p. 32
- Rylands, Philip, Palma Il Vecchio: L'opera completa, 1989, no. 86, n. 41 pp. 32, 41, 120, 126, 247
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1308 p. 392
- Peter Molnos, Lost Heritage: Hungarian Art Collectors in the Twentieth Century, 2018, p. 222
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