Venus and Cupid

Cranach is the first artist north of the Alps to represent the Goddess of Love as a full-length naked figure with this illustration. Here Venus and her companion Cupid are shown still standing on clouds and appear to have just descended from Mount Olympus into a landscape north of the Alps. She holds her veil away from her body, emphasizing her nakedness. Cranach transports the goddess to the dominion of his rulers with the landscape and the electoral shields shown together with the artist's insignia and dated '1506' seen here hanging from a branch at the right edge of the image. However, it cannot have been produced before 1508 when Cranach was presented with his own coat-of arms by Friedrich the Wise. Cranach developed this image as a chiaroscuro woodcut and like his woodcut of St Christopher [CDA.GWN_LC_HVI-56_79] it also appears to have been antedated in order to claim priority over his contemporaries for inventing the technique.

1st state:

a. before the change of the left shoulder. Chiaroscuro impression.

b. before the change of the left shoulder. Outline impression.

2nd state:

the left shoulder corrected. Outline impression only in both black and red ink

later impressions with letterpress:

a. at top: 'Venus vnd ir Son Cupido; below two columns with six verses each, signed C. M. O.

b. below: 'In Imaginem veneris... amo'; and two columns of nine latin couplets, signed I. L. C.

c. below: 'Ad Imaginem...'

[cda 2025]