Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus Would Freeze
Medium
engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 30.6 × 21.6 cm (12 1/16 × 8 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of the Estate of Leo Steinberg
Accession Number
2011.139.17
Art Historical Context
Behold *Without Ceres and Bacchus Venus Would Freeze*, a captivating 1588 engraving by Jacob Matham after a design by the renowned Hendrick Goltzius This print on laid paper (30.6 × 21.6 cm) embodies the Northern Mannerist style flourishing in late 16th-century Haarlem, Netherlands, where Goltzius led a golden age of printmaking. The title draws from a classical proverb, allegorically linking the Roman goddesses Ceres (goddess of agriculture) and Venus (goddess of love) with Bacchus (god of wine), suggesting that without sustenance and warmth from food and drink, beauty and passion would withe...