Venus Disguised as a Huntress Appears to Aeneas (Aeneid I: 305 ff.)
1699–1768
Medium
Black chalk, highlighted with white chalk, on blue paper
Dimensions
overall: 12-3/8 x 16-9/16 in. (31.5 x 42.1 cm) oval: 9-5/8 x 12-15/16 in. (24.4 x 32.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1965
Accession Number
65.66.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the lush wilderness evoked by Stefano Pozzi's *Venus Disguised as aress Appears to Aene* (ca. 1699–1768), we witness a pivotal moment from Virgil's *Aeneid* (Book I, lines 305 ff.). Here, the goddess Venus—disguised as aress with quiver and bow—reveals herself to her mortal son Aeneas, surrounded by trees and noble horses. This scene captures the epic's blend divine intervention and heroic destiny, as Aeneas, shipwrecked en route to found Rome, receives guidance from his mother amid Italy's mythic landscapes. Pozzi, a Roman artist of the Rococo era, masterfully employs black chalk heighten...