Venus with Cupid as the Honey Thief

Venus with Cupid as the Honey Thief

Title

Venus with Cupid as the Honey Thief

[CDA 2010]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Venus the Goddess of Love is clad in a thin veil. She turns towards her son Cupid, who is surrounded by bees and holds a honey comb in his hand. The interpretation of the scene can be read in the Latin verse at the top of the painting either side

Venus the Goddess of Love is clad in a thin veil. She turns towards her son Cupid, who is surrounded by bees and holds a honey comb in his hand. The interpretation of the scene can be read in the Latin verse at the top of the painting either side of Venus' head: 'As the boy is stealing honey from the hive, the bees sting his finger. Similarly the sensuality we desire is mixed with pain and is short and pernicious.'

[Gemäldegalerie Berlin, Unsinn 2010]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Production date
after 1537

Production date

after 1537

[Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 174 x 64.9 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 174 x 64.9 cm

  • Dimensions including frame: 192 x 82.2 cm

  • [Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia top left: winged serpent with dropped wings

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia top left: winged serpent with dropped wings

Inscriptions and Labels
  • top of the painting either side of Venus' head:
    'DVM PVER ALVEOLO FURATUR MELLA CUPIDO / FVRANTI
    DIGITVM CVSPITE …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • top of the painting either side of Venus' head:

  • 'DVM PVER ALVEOLO FURATUR MELLA CUPIDO / FVRANTI

  • DIGITVM CVSPITE FIXIT APIS / SIC ECIAM NOBIS BREVIS EST PERITVRA VOLVPTUAS / QUAE PETIMVS; TRISTI MIXTA DOLORE NOCET'

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse of the panel: - above the centre:

  • text in black paint 'Lucas/ krannick/ No 13'

    • above

  • in chalk 'M 81'; 'B123'

    • top left:

  • label: 'Staatliche Museen Berlin - Gemäldegalerie/ Inv.-Nr. I, 1338/ Kat.-Nr. 1190/ Cranach, Venus u Amor.'

    • in the bottom left quarter:

  • label: 'Meister L. Cranach/ Kat.Nr. 1190/ Restauriert/ von J. v. Danzas/ Datum 1936'

    • bottom right:

  • label: 'Staatliche Museen Berlin - Gemäldegalerie/ Katalog-Nr. 1190/ Lucas Cranach d, Ä./ Venus und Amor'; seal: Königliche Schlösser Siegel 1878; seal: Siegel Directeur General du Musees d. France/ Ptolemée (B) Napoleon

  • [Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Owner
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie
Repository
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie
Location
Berlin
CDA ID
DE_smbGG_1190
FR (1978) Nr.
FR395
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_smbGG_1190/

Provenance

  • 1830 accquired from the Royal Castles' Collection (Königliche Schlösser)

[Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Exhibitions

Berlin 1937, 39, No. 107
Berlin 1973, No. 14
Cologne 2000
Munich 2001, 43f

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Hermann-Fiore 2010 109
AuthorKristina Hermann-Fiore
TitleVenere e Cupido che ruba il favo die miele. Un grande dipinto di Lucas Cranach in Galleria Borghese; Venus with Cupid the Honey Thief. A Great Painting by Lucas Cranach in the Borghese Gallery
Publicationin Anna Coliva, Bernhard Aikema, eds., Cranach l'altro rinascimento, a different Renaissance, Exhib. Cat. Rome
Place of PublicationMilan
Year of Publication2010
Pages98 - 113
Show Literature
Schade 2009 81
AuthorWerner Schade
TitleBollandt als Nachbildner Cranachs
Publicationin Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Evangelische Kirchengemeinde St. Petri-St. Marien, eds., Cranach und die Kunst der Renaissance unter den Hohenzollern: Kirche, Hof und Stadtkultur Exhib. Cat. Berlin
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2009
Pages80-85
Show Literature
Heydenreich 2007 A 402
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich
TitleLucas Cranach the Elder
Place of PublicationAmsterdam
Year of Publication2007
Link https://lucascranach.org/application/files/6116/2097/3099/Heydenreich_2007_Lucas_Cranach_the_Elder.pdf
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Cologne, Munich 2000 43f.
AuthorEkkehard Mai
EditorWallraf-Richartz-Museum
TitleFaszination Venus. Bilder einer Göttin von Cranach bis Cabanel
Place of PublicationCologne
Year of Publication2000
Show Literature
Cat. Berlin 1996 34 Fig. 73
AuthorRainald Grosshans, Henning Bock
EditorStaatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie
TitleGemäldegalerie Berlin. Gesamtverzeichnis
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1996
Show Literature
Schade, Schuttwolf 1994 31
AuthorWerner Schade, Allmuth Schuttwolf
TitleMalerei und Plastik
Publicationin Allmuth Schuttwolf, ed., Gotteswort und Menschenbild. Werke von Cranach und seinen Zeitgenossen, Exhib. Cat. Gotha
Place of PublicationGotha
Year of Publication1994
Pages15-94
Show Literature
Leeman 1984 274f.
AuthorF. W. G. Leeman
TitleA textual source for Cranach's "Venus with Cupid the honey-thief"
JournalBurlington Magazine
Issue126, May
Year of Publication1984
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 150 No. 395 Fig. 395
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1973 No. 14
AuthorWilhelm H. Köhler, Frank Steigerwald
TitleLucas Cranach. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Druckgraphik
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1973
Show Literature
Posse 1943 65 No. 111
AuthorHans Posse
TitleLucas Cranach d. Ä.
Place of PublicationVienna
IssueSecond edition
Year of Publication1943
Show Literature
Posse 1942 65 No. 111
AuthorHans Posse
TitleLucas Cranach d. Ä.
Place of PublicationVienna
Year of Publication1942
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1937 39 107 Pl. 84
EditorStaatliche Museen, Berlin
TitleLucas Cranach d. Ä. und Lucas Cranach d. J. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Graphik
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1937
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 319
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1932
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932
Show Literature
Bauch 1894 425
AuthorGustav Bauch
TitleZur Cranachforschung
JournalRepertorium für Kunstwissenschaft
Issue17
Year of Publication1894
Pages421-435
Show Literature
Schuchardt 1851 C 17 19
AuthorChristian Schuchardt
TitleLucas Cranach des Aeltern Leben und Werke. Zweiter Theil
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1851
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schuchardt1851bd2
Show Literature
Cat. Berlin 1830 142 No. 54
AuthorGustav Friedrich Waagen
EditorKönigliches Museum, Berlin
TitleVerzeichniß der Gemälde-Sammlung des Königlichen Museums zu Berlin
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1830
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

The primary sources for the inscription are discussed

[Leeman 1984, 274f.]

  • Venus with Cupid as the Honey Thief, after 1537

Images

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Technical studies

02. 2010Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Materials:

- dry drawing material and fluid medium, dark chalk and brush?

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing?

- delicate, fine lines in combination with broader lines

Function:

- binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours; no representation of volume

Deviations:

- no alterations made during the painting process

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Lucas Cranach the Elder? or the Younger?

Comments:

- possibly transferred from a preparatory drawing

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2012]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner
  • X-radiography
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph
  • created by Fotowerkstatt, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Venus with Cupid as the Honey Thief', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_smbGG_1190/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Venus with Cupid as the Honey Thief', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_smbGG_1190/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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