Venus with Cupid as the Honey Thief

Venus with Cupid as the Honey Thief

Title

Venus with Cupid as the Honey Thief

[cda 2021]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[TWiB online, April 2014, 6, accessed 15.06.2021]

Venus and Cupid are represented as full length nude figures standing against a black backdrop. Only a strip of vegetation and the tree trunk at the left serve to locate the scene in a forest clearing. Venus has her hair pinned up and spartanly adorned with precious jewellery and

Venus and Cupid are represented as full length nude figures standing against a black backdrop. Only a strip of vegetation and the tree trunk at the left serve to locate the scene in a forest clearing. Venus has her hair pinned up and spartanly adorned with precious jewellery and a transparent veil, which seems to emphasize her nakedness rather than conceal it. Her weight is supported on her right leg and she appears to be lecturing Cupid. He is already holding a honeycomb in his left hand, while bees swarm about him and looks to Venus for assistance. The Latin inscription in the upper left corner suggests that the motif wishes to alert the viewer to the consequences of abandoned lust.

[cda 2021]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Younger
Follower of Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Younger

or follower? [D. Koepplin, handwritten on the reverse of a b/w photograph; Koepplin Archive]; [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, no. 398C]

Follower of Lucas Cranach the Younger

or Lucas Cranach the Younger [D. Koepplin, handwritten on the reverse of a b/w photograph; Koepplin Archive]

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Bermuda National Gallery, exhibition review, accessed 16.06.2021]
[Auct. Cat. Berlin 1918 A, no. 59]

Production date
after 1537

Production date

after 1537

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, no. 398C]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 48 x 34 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 48 x 34 cm

  • [D. Koepplin, handwritten on the reverse of a b/w photograph; Koepplin Archive]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the bottom right: serpent with dropped wings, facing left

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the bottom right: serpent with dropped wings, facing left

Inscriptions and Labels
  • at the top left: 'DVM PVER ALVEOLO FVRATVR MELLA CVPIDO // FVRANTI DIGITVM CVSPITE FIXIT APIS. // SIC ETIAM …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • at the top left:

  • 'DVM PVER ALVEOLO FVRATVR MELLA CVPIDO // FVRANTI DIGITVM CVSPITE FIXIT APIS. // SIC ETIAM NOBIS BREVIS ET PERITVRA VOLVPTAS // QVAM PETIMVS TRISTI MIXTA DOLORE NOCET.'

Owner
Private Collection
Repository
Bermuda National Gallery, Hamilton
CDA ID
PRIVATE_NONE-P508
FR (1978) Nr.
FR398C
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P508/

Provenance

  • sale Mallmann, Berlin, 12.06.1918, no. 59
  • Berlin, Galerie Dr. C. Benedict & Co., 1926
    [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, no. 398C]
  • on permanent loan to the Bermuda National Gallery, Hamilton [since c. 2011?]
    [TWiB online, April 2014, 6, accessed 15.06.2021]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 398C
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 89 321c
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
Auct. Cat. Berlin 1918 A 28 059 Pl. 59
EditorRudolph Lepke's Kunst-Auctions-Haus
TitleGalerie Ritter Gaston von Mallmann, Berlin (Band 1): Gemälde alter Meister aller Schulen: Versteigerung: 12. Juni 1918 (Katalog Nr. 1808)
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1918
Link https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/lepke1918_06_12bd1/0005
Show Literature
  • Venus with Cupid as the Honey Thief, after 1537

Images

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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/PRIVATE_NONE-P508/ (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/PRIVATE_NONE-P508/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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