An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, The painting was a gift of Cosimo I de Medici to King Francis of France. It was done by Cosimo's court painter Bronzino. The painting combines many different mythological figures, some quite obvious by their attributes, and others who are harder to name. Venus and Cupid kiss in the left foreground. Venus is identifiable by the golden apple in her left hand, and she holds one of Cupid's arrows in her right hand. Cupid has wings and is rendered as a youthful figure. The bearded figure is Time, as seen by the hourglass on his right shoulder. The gleeful child is Jest, Folly, and Pleasure. The other figures including a dragon-tailed girl, have more debatable identifications. Overall, the figure is an entertaining and erotic piece, filled with thought provoking symbolism and intrigue. This is a basic record created to enable public access to scanned images. Full research on this image is pending.
- Contini-Volterra Photographic Archive | Florence (FLOR) | FLOR.5001-FLOR.11430 | An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, The painting was a gift of Cosimo I de Medici to King Francis of France. It was done by Cosimo's court painter Bronzino. The painting combines many different mythological figures, some quite obvious by their attributes, and others who are harder to name. Venus and Cupid kiss in the left foreground. Venus is identifiable by the golden apple in her left hand, and she holds one of Cupid's arrows in her right hand. Cupid has wings and is rendered as a youthful figure. The bearded figure is Time, as seen by the hourglass on his right shoulder. The gleeful child is Jest, Folly, and Pleasure. The other figures including a dragon-tailed girl, have more debatable identifications. Overall, the figure is an entertaining and erotic piece, filled with thought provoking symbolism and intrigue. This is a basic record created to enable public access to scanned images. Full research on this image is pending., about 1545
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About this Site
This site contains collection guides, or finding aids, to the archival collections held by Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives, the History of Medicine Collection, and the Scarritt Bennett Center. Finding aids describe the context, arrangement, and structure of archival materials, allowing users to identify and request materials relevant to their research.
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