Venus and Cupid the Honey Thief

Venus and Cupid the Honey Thief

Title

Venus and Cupid the Honey Thief

[Burrell Collection, revised 2015]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Burrell collection, revised 2015]

The composition is dominated by the standing figure of a young woman (Venus) before a dark bush. She is naked except for a wisp of transparent gauze that she stretches across her midriff, a necklace (a simple band with a single pearl drop), and a beret-like hat with three short

The composition is dominated by the standing figure of a young woman (Venus) before a dark bush. She is naked except for a wisp of transparent gauze that she stretches across her midriff, a necklace (a simple band with a single pearl drop), and a beret-like hat with three short plumes. She is seen from the left; her head inclined downwards and to the proper right; her eyes looking at the viewer; her right hand raised, her left by her left thigh. To the left, the naked figure of a winged infant (Cupid), holds up a honeycomb to Venus, to whom he looks up; his body is dotted with bees. To the right, the recumbent head and forelegs of a deer. Latin quatrain in a simple rectangular cartouche upper left corner

[http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=87529]

Attributions
Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder

[cda 2016]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Burrell Collection, revised 2015]

Production dates
after 1600
154[?]

Production dates

after 1600

[cda 2016]

154[?]

[dated, most probably not original]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 51.5 x 36.2 cm (estimate)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 51.5 x 36.2 cm (estimate)

  • [Burrell Collection, revised 2015]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the centre, left: winged-serpent motif and dated '154[?]'

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the centre, left: winged-serpent motif and dated '154[?]'

  • [cda 2016]

Inscriptions and Labels
  • top left: 'DVM PVER ALVEOLO EVRATVR MELLA CVPIDO/FVRANTI DIGITVM CVSPITE FIXIT APIS/SIC ETIAM NOBIS BREVIS ET PERITVRA VOLVPTAS/QVAM PETIMVS …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • top left:

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

Owner
Culture and Sport Glasgow (Museums)
Repository
Burrell Collection, Pollok Country Park, Glasgow
Location
Glasgow
CDA ID
UK_BC_35-74
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_BC_35-74/

Provenance

  • Sir Thomas Gibson Carmichael, Bt, Castle Craig, Scotland, by 1901
  • Sir Thomas Gibson Carmichael sale, Christie's, London, 13 May 1902, lot 267
  • bought by 'Laurie' [? Lawrie & Co.], £57.15s., probably for Sir William Burrell (1861-1958), 8 Great Western Terrace, Glasgow.
  • Given by Sir William and Lady Burrell 1944.
    [Burrell collection, revised 2015]

Exhibitions

Glasgow 1901, cat. p. 106
London 1924, No. 102
Manchester 1961, No. 87
London 1975, No. 9

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994 348 - 349 170
EditorClaus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff
TitleLucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken [Festung Rosenberg, Kronach 17.05 - 21.08.1994; Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig 07.09 - 06.11.1994]
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication1994
Show Literature
Leeman 1984 274 - 275
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 1932 67 202
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
  • Venus and Cupid the Honey Thief, after 1600

Images

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Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
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Entry with no author
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