Venus mourning Adonis, seated beneath a tree and embracing him, with Cupid at right
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Image: 7 9/16 × 6 5/8 in. (19.2 × 16.8 cm) Sheet (Trimmed): 9 3/16 × 7 3/8 in. (23.3 × 18.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gertrude and Thomas Jefferson Mumford Collection, Gift of Dorothy Quick Mayer, 1942
Accession Number
42.119.304(14)
Art Historical Context
In this evocative engraving, *Venus Mourning Adonis*, we witness a timeless scene from classical mythology from Ovid's *Metamorphoses*. Venus, the of love, cradles her dying beloved Adonis beneath a sprawling tree, her grief palpable as she embraces his lifeless form. At right, the winged Cupid stands as a poignant witness, symbolizing the bittersweet interplay of love and mortality. This intimate composition captures the raw emotion of loss, a motif that resonated across centuries. Created around 1786, the print reproduces an original design by 16th-century Genoese Mannerist artist Luca Camb...
About the Artist
Luca Cambiaso|Gérard René Le Vilain|Jean Bernard Duvivier · 1527–1585
Luca Cambiaso (1527–1585) was an Italian painter and draftsman who dominated artistic life in Genoa during the second half of the sixteenth century and became one of the most innovative draftsmen of the Late Renaissance. Born in Moneglia near Genoa, he trained under his father, the painter Giovanni Cambiaso, and demonstrated precocious talent, reportedly completing his first public fresco commissi...