Venus and Cupid, large plate
Medium
Lithograph in black on ivory China paper laid down on white wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 32.4 × 41.3 cm (12 13/16 × 16 5/16 in.); Sheet: 42.8 × 56.9 cm (16 7/8 × 22 7/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
44191
Art Historical Context
Henri Fantin-Latour's *Venus and Cupid, plate* (1896) captures the tender intimacy of the Roman goddess of love and her mischievous son in a masterful lithograph. Created late in the artist's career, this print reflects Fantin-Latour's lifelong fascination with classical mythology, blending his precise Realism—honed through friendships with Courbet and Manet—with lyrical elegance. The composition evokes the sensual grace of Renaissance masters like Titian, whom he admired, portraying Venus and Cupid in a moment of affectionate play that symbolizes desire and maternal devotion. Printed in blac...
About the Artist
Henri Fantin-Latour · 1836–1904
Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-Latour was born on January 14, 1836, in Grenoble, France, to portrait painter Théodore Fantin-Latour, who gave him his earliest drawing lessons. The family relocated to Paris in 1841, where in 1850, at age 14, he enrolled in the École de Dessin, studying under Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran, whose innovative memory-based method of drawing from observation profoundly ...