Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 30 pages
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
The artist's preoccupation with antiquity earned him his nickname. His patrons, the Gonzaga family of Mantua, sent him to Rome to study ancient sculpture so that he would be able to seek out antiquities for purchase, discern forgeries, and produce small versions in bronze of famous statues. The last are usually creative interpretations, which he called his "antiquities." This fine Venus may be loosely based on the same unrestored torso of a Roman copy after a Greek original as "Venus Pudica." Typical of Antico's style are the highly finished surface, dark patina, touches of gilding in the hair, and silver inlay for the eyes, a detail found in ancient bronzes. This Venus represents Spiritual Love, expressed through her modest pose, her lamp of celestial fire, and her crown of Virtue. Around 1520, Antico was creating pieces for his major patron in Mantua, the marchioness Isabella d'Este, whose refined tastes are here exemplified.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
30236
label
Venus as Spiritual Love (Venus Caritas)
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
30
Source metadata
id
30236
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Venus as Spiritual Love (Venus Caritas)
description
The artist's preoccupation with antiquity earned him his nickname. His patrons, the Gonzaga family of Mantua, sent him to Rome to study ancient sculpture so that he would be able to seek out antiquities for purchase, discern forgeries, and produce small versions in bronze of famous statues. The last are usually creative interpretations, which he called his "antiquities." This fine Venus may be loosely based on the same unrestored torso of a Roman copy after a Greek original as "Venus Pudica." Typical of Antico's style are the highly finished surface, dark patina, touches of gilding in the hair, and silver inlay for the eyes, a detail found in ancient bronzes. This Venus represents Spiritual Love, expressed through her modest pose, her lamp of celestial fire, and her crown of Virtue. Around 1520, Antico was creating pieces for his major patron in Mantua, the marchioness Isabella d'Este, whose refined tastes are here exemplified.
provenance
Eduard Georg Simon, Berlin (1864-1929); Arnold Seligmann, New York, perhaps through the Berlin office [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1931 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1520-1523 (Renaissance)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Metal
statuettes (statues)
imageCount
30
pageCount
30
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
58.5
height
18
depth
15.8
dimensionsRaw
Overall H: 23 1/16 × W: 7 1/16 × D: 6 1/4 in. (58.5 × 18 × 15.8 cm); Statue: H: 18 × W: 6 × D: 3 15/16 in. (45.7 × 15.3 × 10 cm); Base: H: 4 15/16 × W: 6 1/4 × D: 6 1/4 in. (12.6 × 15.8 × 15.8 cm)
Source extras
med
bronze with traces of gilding and silver inlay
creator_ids
3180
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
34
1986
2673
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
cd7dcb463bf373e2
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
d7fb6bbf1ea24e01
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
a6b78979a4c8c3fc
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
cba4110b709abb7c
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
5
type
photo
mediaId
8baffed3a1273e4c
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
6
type
photo
mediaId
eca8c168b0584936
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
7
type
photo
mediaId
d8068777d82175c1
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
8
type
photo
mediaId
d4e096c01779ebf3
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
9
type
photo
mediaId
d2b02f2f643c9e3b
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
10
type
photo
mediaId
e28b06b24a218555
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
11
type
photo
mediaId
27f7cb2e371d18dd
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
12
type
photo
mediaId
f30d13c4b535e775
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
13
type
photo
mediaId
63b9ca8116a05c91
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
14
type
photo
mediaId
505bf6a96d34100b
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
15
type
photo
mediaId
f895bc03e1ff9bd0
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
16
type
photo
mediaId
b78d9cafb87e178b
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
17
type
photo
mediaId
702ac6f986df5871
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
18
type
photo
mediaId
8b09a30864246c9d
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
19
type
photo
mediaId
720d9d2a0e07f718
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
20
type
photo
mediaId
237c0a065eaac1bf
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
21
type
photo
mediaId
3b927d3a18134b2a
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
22
type
photo
mediaId
9b6c5f53391c3266
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
23
type
photo
mediaId
ba02cbe0996f8016
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
24
type
photo
mediaId
2f4e2ec87e272410
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
25
type
photo
mediaId
34fadef7786fde83
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
26
type
photo
mediaId
fa51f662a7611bd2
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
27
type
photo
mediaId
e4614656bee06367
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
28
type
photo
mediaId
703b5224ee6dd2d3
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
29
type
photo
mediaId
7e6cad01f1cc928f
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
30
type
photo
mediaId
304f78753f47dd30
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no