The Worship of Venus

The Worship of Venus

Artist	Titian
Year	1518–1519^[1]
Medium	Oil on canvas
Subject	Venus
Dimensions	172 cm × 175 cm (68 in × 69 in)
Location	Museo del Prado, Madrid

The Worship of Venus is an oil on canvas painting by the Italian artist Titian completed between 1518 and 1519, housed at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.^[1] It describes a Roman rite of worship conducted in honour of the goddess Venus each 1 April. On this occasion, women would make offerings to representations of the goddess so as to cleanse "every blemish on their bodies".^[2]

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Description

In Titian's work, two nymphs, one young and one matronly, are situated to the right of the ceremony, attending to a shrine holding a representation of Venus. The shrine is surrounded by votive tablets. The older woman checks on the decorations with the use of a mirror which she holds high in her extended right hand. The foreground of the canvas is thronged with a swarm of male infants, or putti, who distract themselves in activities such as climbing trees, leaping, flying, gathering apples, lying around, fighting, fondling, shooting arrows and pulling each other's hair.^[2] A dam is shown in the middle background, near a sunlit meadow. The far distance is decorated with a mountain and blue sky.

Source material

Titian based the image on the writings of the Greek sophist Philostratus.^[3] In his "Imagines I, VI", Philostratus wrote, "See cupids are gathering apples: and if there are many of them, do not be surprised...The cupids' quiver are studded with gold, and golden also are the darts in them...they have hung their quivers on the apple trees; and in the grass lie their broidered mantles...Ah, the baskets into which they gather their apples!"^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b "The Offering to Venus". Museo Nacional del Prado. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hope & Fletcher & Dunkerton, 110
^ Claude, 73

Sources

Hope, Charles & Fletcher, Jennifer & Dunkerton, Jill. Titian. National Gallery London, 2003. ISBN 1-85709-904-4
Kaminski, Marion. Titian. Ullmann, 2007. ISBN 978-3-8331-3776-1
Phillips, Claude. The Earlier Work of Titian. Bastian Books, 2008. ISBN 0-554-38327-6
(in Italian) Francesco Valcanover, L'opera completa di Tiziano, Rizzoli, Milano 1969.
(in Italian) Stefano Zuffi, Tiziano, Mondadori Arte, Milano 2008. ISBN 978-88-370-6436-5

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Feast of cupids by Titian in the Museo del Prado.

Philostratus's Imagines 1.6 (Cupids). Fairbanks translation at the Theoi Classical Texts Library.

v t e Titian
List of works
Portraits	Jacopo Pesaro being presented by Pope Alexander VI to Saint Peter (1503–1506) A Man with a Quilted Sleeve (c. 1509) La Schiavona (1510–1512) A Man New York, c. 1512) (Indianapolis, c. 1515 Shepherd with a Flute (c. 1510–1515) A Man in a Red Cap (c. 1510–1515) A Sick Man (1515) Jacopo Sannazaro (c. 1514–1518) Gian Giacomo Bartolotti da Parma (c. 1515) A Knight of Malta (c. 1515) Vincenzo Mosti (c. 1520) Young Woman in a Black Dress (c. 1520) Man with a Glove (c. 1520) Laura Dianti (c. 1520–1525) Alfonso I d'Este (1523) A Lady (c. 1525–1565) Federico II Gonzaga (c. 1529) Giacomo di Andrea Dolfin (c. 1531–1532) Alfonso d'Avalos with a Page (1533) Charles V with a Dog (1533) Ippolito de' Medici (1532–1533) Giacomo Doria (1533–1535) Charles V (1533–1535) Isabella d'Este (1534–1536) La Bella (1536) Girl in a Fur (1536–1538) Count Antonio Porcia and Brugnera (c. 1535–1540) A Man with a Falcon (c. 1537) Eleonora Gonzaga della Rovere (1538) Francesco Maria della Rovere (1538) Cardinal Pietro Bembo (1539–1540) Benedetto Varchi (c. 1540) Pope Sixtus IV (c. 1540) A Young Englishman (1540–1545) Ranuccio Farnese (c. 1542) Clarissa Strozzi (1542) The Vendramin Family (1543–1547) Pietro Aretino (1545) Lavinia Vecellio (c. 1545) Pope Paul III (1545–1546) Pope Paul III Wearing a Camauro (1545–1546) Pope Paul III and His Grandsons (1545–1546) Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (c. 1545–1546) Pier Luigi Farnese (1546) Andrea Gritti (c. 1546–1550) Charles V (on horseback) (1548) Charles V (seated) (1548) Isabella of Portugal (1548) John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (c. 1550–1551) A General (c. 1550) Philip II in Armour (1551) Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo (1552) Philip II (1554) Woman Holding an Apple (c. 1550–1555) Christina of Denmark (1555–1556) Girl with a Platter of Fruit (c. 1555–1558) Fabrizio Salvaresio (1558) An Unknown Lady (c. 1550–1560 – also attributed to Titian's workshop) Jacopo Strada (1567–1568) A Lady in White (c. 1561)
Self portraits	Self-Portrait (1546–1547) Self-Portrait (c. 1560)
Secular	Detroit Trio (c. 1500 – also attributed to Giorgione and others) The Birth of Adonis (c. 1506–1508) The Legend of Polydoros (c. 1506–1508) Justice (c. 1508) Pastoral Concert (c. 1509 – also attributed to Giorgione) Dresden Venus (with Giorgione, c. 1510) The Lovers (c. 1510 – attributed) The Three Ages of Man (c. 1512–1514) Sacred and Profane Love (c. 1514) The Feast of the Gods (1514) Venus and Cupid (1510–1515) Lucretia and her Husband (1515) The Bravo (c. 1515) Flora (c. 1515) Vanity (c. 1515) Violante (c. 1515) Woman with a Mirror (c. 1515) The Worship of Venus (1518–19) Venus Anadyomene (c. 1520) Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–1523) The Bacchanal of the Andrians (1523–1526) Allegory of Marriage (c. 1530–1535) Eleven Caesars (1536–1540) Venus of Urbino (1538) Alfonso d'Avalos Addressing his Troops (1540) Venus and Musician (several versions, 1540s–1570s) Tityus (1549) Sisyphus (1549) Danaë (several versions; 1543–1565) Venus and Adonis (several versions) Mars, Venus and Amor (c. 1550) Pardo Venus (1551) Venus with a Mirror (1555) Perseus and Andromeda (1554–1556) Diana and Actaeon (1556–1559) Diana and Callisto (1556–1559) The Death of Actaeon (c. 1559–1575) The Rape of Europa (c. 1560–1562) The Concert (c. 1543–1564) Venus Blindfolding Cupid (c. 1565) Allegory of Prudence (c. 1565–1570) Nymph and Shepherd (c. 1570) Tarquin and Lucretia (comp. 1571) Flaying of Marsyas (1570–1576)
Religious	Christ Carrying the Cross (c. 1505 – also attributed to Giorgione) Bache Madonna (c. 1508) Flight into Egypt (c. 1508) Lochis Madonna (1508–1510) St. Mark Enthroned (c. 1510) The Gypsy Madonna (c. 1510) Holy Family with a Shepherd (c. 1510) Christ and the Adulteress Glasgow, c. 1510) (Vienna, c. 1520 Madonna and Child with St Anthony of Padua and St Roch (c. 1511) The Resurrected Christ (c. 1511–12) Bapitsm of Christ (c. 1512) Virgin and Child with Saint Stephen, Saint Jerome and Saint Maurice (c. 1510–1525) Miracle of the Jealous Husband (1511) Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1512) Balbi Holy Conversation (c. 1513) Noli me tangere (c. 1514) The Archangel Raphael and Tobias (c. 1512–1514; c. 1540–1545) Salome Rome, c. 1515) (Madrid, c. 1550) (Private, c. 1570 Madonna of the Cherries (1515) The Tribute Money (c. 1516) Assumption of the Virgin (1516–1518) The Virgin and Child with Saint George and Saint Dorothy (1516–1518) Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Unidentified Saint (c. 1515–1520) Madonna and Child with Four Saints (c. 1516–1520) Pesaro Madonna (1519–1526) Madonna and Child with Three Saints (c. 1519) Gozzi Altarpiece (1520) Mary with Child and Saints Stephen, Jerome and Mauritius (c. 1520) Malchiostro Annunciation (c. 1520) The Entombment of Christ (c. 1520) Averoldi Polyptych (1520–1522) Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata (1525) The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr (1529) Aldobrandini Madonna (1530) Madonna of the Rabbit (1530) Madonna of the Roses (c. 1530) Penitent Magdalene (1531) Saint Jerome in Penitence (1531) Pilgrims at Emmaus (c. 1533–1534) Supper at Emmaus (c. 1534; c. 1545) The Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple (1534–1538) Saint John the Baptist (1540) Sciarra Madonna (c. 1540) The Crowning with Thorns (1542–43) Ecce Homo Vienna, 1543 David and Goliath (c. 1542–1544) Abraham and Isaac (c. 1543–1544) Cain and Abel (c. 1543–1545) Serravalle Altarpiece (1548) Castello Roganzuolo Altarpiece (1549) The Fall of Man (c. 1550) Penitent Magdalene (c. 1550) Saint Jerome in Penitence (1552) The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (c. 1548–1559) La Gloria (1554) Christ Appearing to his Mother after his Resurrection (1554) Mater Dolorosa (c. 1555) Saint Jerome in Penitence (1575) Crucifixion (1558) The Entombment (1559) St Margaret and the Dragon (c. 1559) Annunciation (1559–1564) Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1560) Penitent Magdalene (1565) Saint Dominic (c. 1565) Judith with the Head of Holofernes (c. 1570) Religion saved by Spain (1572–1575) Saint Sebastian (c. 1575) The Crowning with Thorns (1576) Pietà (1576)
Related	Orazio Vecellio (son) Francesco Vecellio (brother)

Museo del Prado

Buildings
Villanueva building Casón del Buen Retiro Hall of Realms Cloister of Saint Jerome

Paintings

Spanish	Esquivel: José de Espronceda Gisbert: Execution of Torrijos and his Companions on the Beach at Málaga Goya: Allegory of Industry – Asmodea – Atropos – Blind Man's Bluff – Boys playing soldiers – Charles IV of Spain and His Family – Los caprichos – Christ Crucified – The Clothed Maja – The Colossus – The Countess of Chinchon – Los disparates – The Dog – The Drunk Mason – The Duchess of Alba and la Beata – Fight with Cudgels – Judith and Holofernes – La Leocadia – Man Mocked by Two Women – Portrait of the Marchioness of Santa Cruz – Men Reading – The Milkmaid of Bordeaux – The Naked Maja – The Parasol – A Pilgrimage to San Isidro – Pilgrimage to the Fountain of San Isidro – Saturn Devouring His Son – The Second of May 1808 – Self-portrait at 69 years – Summer – The Third of May 1808 – Two Old Men – Two Old Ones Eating Soup – The Victorious Hannibal Seeing Italy from the Alps for the First Time – Witches' Flight – Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat) El Greco: The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest – Adoration of the Shepherds – Doña María de Aragón Altarpiece – Annunciation – Christ Carrying the Cross – The Fable – The Flight into Egypt – Holy Face of Jesus – Holy Trinity – Julián Romero and Saint Julian – Portrait of a Doctor – Portrait of a Gentleman – Portrait of a Young Nobleman – Portrait of an Elderly Man – Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman – Portrait of Jerónimo de Cevallos – Portrait of Rodrigo Vázquez de Arce – Saint Andrew and Saint Francis – Saint Anthony of Padua – Saint Bernardino of Siena ^[1] – Saint James the Great – Saint John the Evangelist – Saint Paul – Saint Sebastian – Saint Thomas the Apostle – Holy Trinity – The Saviour – Virgin Mary Luna: The Death of Cleopatra Maíno: Adoration of the Magi – Portrait of a Gentleman – The Recovery of Bahía de Todos los Santos Murillo: Adoration of the Shepherds (1650) – Aranjuez Immaculate Conception – The Christ Child and the Infant John the Baptist with a Shell – Christ on the Cross (1675, 1677) – The Conversion of Saint Paul – The Good Shepherd – The Holy Family with a Little Bird – The Immaculate Conception of El Escorial – The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables – The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew – Our Lady of the Rosary – The Patrician's Dream – Rebecca and Eleazar Pradilla: Doña Joanna the Mad Ribera: Jacob's Dream – Democritus – Isaac and Jacob – Ixion – Tityos – The Martyrdom of Saint Philip – The Blind Sculptor Sánchez Gallque: The Mulattos of Esmeraldas ^[2] Velázquez: Las Meninas – The Triumph of Bacchus – Las Hilanderas – The Surrender of Breda – Mars Resting – Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV – Equestrian Portrait of Elisabeth of France – Equestrian Portrait of Prince Balthasar Charles – Equestrian Portrait of Philip III – Equestrian Portrait of Margarita of Austria – Equestrian Portrait of the Count-Duke of Olivares – Adoration of the Magi – Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan – Christ Crucified – Coronation of the Virgin – View of the Garden of the Villa Medici – Prince Balthasar Charles as a Hunter – Portrait of the Infante Don Carlos – Doña Antonia de Ipeñarrieta y Galdós and Her Son Don Luis – The Jester Barbarroja – The Jester Calabacillas – The Jester Don Diego de Acedo – The Jester Don John of Austria – Portrait of Francisco Lezcano – Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Pink Dress – Portrait of Maria Anna – Portrait of Juan Martínez Montañés – The Nun Jerónima de la Fuente – Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid – Portrait of Philip IV in Armour – Portrait of Mariana of Austria – Portrait of Sebastián de Morra Zurbarán: Agnus Dei – The Death of Hercules – The Defence of Cádiz Against the English – Hercules and the Hydra – Hercules Separates Mounts Calpe and Abylla – Hercules Fighting the Nemean Lion – Saint Elizabeth of Portugal – Saint Luke Painting the Crucifixion – Saint Peter Nolasco's Vision of Saint Peter the Apostle – Still Life with Pots – The Vision of Saint Peter Nolasco
Dutch, Flemish, German	Anonymous: The Fountain of Life Baldung: The Three Ages of Man and Death Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights – Adoration of the Magi – Cutting the Stone – The Haywain Triptych – Head of a Halberdier – Paradise and Hell – The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things – The Temptation of St Anthony Bouts: Triptych of the Virgin's Life Bruegel the Elder: The Triumph of Death – The Wine of Saint Martin's Day – Excursion in the Countryside of Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia – Life in the Countryside – The Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia in the Mariemont Park (with de Momper) – Landscape (with de Momper) – The Five Senses (with Rubens) Campin: Marriage of the Virgin – The Werl Triptych de Crayer: Caritas Romana (1625) David: Rest on the Flight into Egypt Dürer: Adam and Eve – Self-Portrait van Dyck: Self-portrait with Sir Endymion Porter – The Betrayal of Christ – The Brazen Serpent – Diana and a Nymph Surprised by a Satyr – Saint Rosalia – The Crowning with Thorns van Hemessen: The Surgeon Francken the Younger: The Sciences and the Arts Jordaens: Apollo as Victor over Pan – Meleager and Atalanta – The Painter's Family Memling: Adoration of the Magi Mengs: Portrait of José Nicolás de Azara de Momper: Landscape with Sea and Mountains – A Farm – Flemish Market and Washing Place – Landscape with Skaters – The Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia in the Mariemont Park (with Brueghel the Elder) – Landscape (with Brueghel the Elder) Patinir: Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx Rembrandt: Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes Rubens: The Judgement of Paris (1638) – The Three Graces – Adoration of the Magi – The Dance of the Villagers – Diana and Callisto – Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma – The Fall of Man – The Garden of Love – The Birth of the Milky Way – The Rape of Europa – The Rape of Ganymede – Saint George and the Dragon – Saturn – The Triumph of the Church – Deucalion and Pyrrha – The Five Senses (with Brueghel the Elder) Stom: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas Strobel: Feast of Herod with the Beheading of St John the Baptist Teniers the Younger: Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Painting Gallery in Brussels (1651) Verhaecht: Alpine Landscape van der Weyden: The Descent from the Cross – Durán Madonna
Italian	Fra Angelico: Annunciation Anguissola: Portrait of Elisabeth of Valois – Portrait of Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia ^[3] – Portrait of Giovanni Battista Caselli Barocci: Nativity Bellini: Madonna and Child with Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Ursula Botticelli: The Story of Nastagio Degli Onesti, part one Caravaggio: David and Goliath Carracci: Assumption of the Virgin – Mural Paintings from the Herrera Chapel – Venus, Adonis and Cupid Correggio: Noli me tangere – Madonna and Child with the Infant John the Baptist A. Gentileschi: The Birth of Saint John the Baptist O. Gentileschi: The Finding of Moses (1633) Leonardo: Mona Lisa (by his studio) Lotto: Portrait of Marsilio Cassotti and His Bride Faustina Mantegna: Death of the Virgin Parmigianino: Holy Family with Angels – Portrait of Camilla Gonzaga and Her Three Sons – Portrait of Pier Maria Rossi di San Secondo – Saint Barbara Raphael: Portrait of a Cardinal – Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary – Madonna of the Rose – Visitation – La Perla (with Romano) Romano: Holy Family under an Oak Tree Andrea del Sarto: Sacrifice of Isaac Tintoretto: Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet – Joseph and Potiphar's Wife – Judith and Holofernes (by his studio) – The Washing of the Feet Tiepolo: The Immaculate Conception Titian: The Bacchanal of the Andrians – Equestrian Portrait of Charles V – The Fall of Man – Alfonso d'Avalos Addressing his Troops – Danaë Receiving the Golden Rain (1565) – The Entombment – La Gloria – Madonna and Child with St Anthony of Padua and St Roch – Mater Dolorosa – Philip II in Armour – Portrait of Charles V with a Dog – Portrait of Federico II Gonzaga – Portrait of Isabella of Portugal – Sisyphus – Tityus – Religion saved by Spain – Self-Portrait (1567) – St Margaret and the Dragon – Venus and Adonis (1554) – Venus and Musician (1550, 1555) – The Virgin and Child with Saint George and Saint Dorothy – The Worship of Venus Veronese: Venus and Adonis – Christ Among the Doctors – The Finding of Moses
French	Anonymous: Agony in the Garden Baudry: The Pearl and the Wave van Loo: The Family of Philip V (1743) Lorrain: Landscape with St Paula of Rome Embarking at Ostia – The Ford – Landscape with St María de Cervelló – Landscape with the Burial of St Serapia – Landscape with the Finding of Moses – Landscape with the Temptation of St Anthony – Landscape with Tobias and Raphael Poussin: Parnassus – Landscape with Three Figures – Saint Cecilia Ranc: The Family of Philip V (1723) – Portrait of Ferdinand VI as a Boy Watteau: Marriage Contract and Country Dancing Vouet: Time Defeated by Love, Beauty and Hope
Other	British paintings

Sculptures

Rome	The Apotheosis of Claudius Castor and Pollux

^[1] On display at El Greco Museum in Toledo
^[2] On display at Museo de América in Madrid
^[3] On display at the Spanish Embassy in Paris

Category

This page was last edited on 10 April 2024, at 22:56

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