Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus Would Freeze
1590–95
Medium
Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, over traces of charcoal, heightened with opaque white watercolor (partially discolored), on buff laid paper
Dimensions
14.7 × 19.5 cm (5 13/16 × 7 11/16 in.)
Classification
prints and drawing
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
242148
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The Roman goddess Venus reclines languidly in the center of the composition. Cupid serves her a cup of wine; Ceres, the goddess of crops, appears behind her holding a sheaf of wheat, while an inebriated Bacchus leans against a wine barrel at right. The traditional title for this scene—a quotation from a play by the Roman comedian Terence—became a popular proverb in the Renaissance, inspiring numerous visual depictions in the period. The adage wryly suggests that sensual desire (represented by Ve...
About the Artist
Abraham Bloemaert · 1566–1651
Abraham Bloemaert (1566–1651) was born in Gorinchem in the Dutch Republic, the son of architect Cornelis Bloemaert, and grew up in Utrecht after the family relocated there in 1575. His early artistic formation took him to Paris for three years in the early 1580s, where he studied with several masters before returning to the Northern Netherlands to pursue his career. He settled permanently in Utrec...