Venus and Cupid

Title: Venus and Cupid

Artist: Jacopo Pontormo

Location: Academia in Florence, Italy

Date: 1532-1534

Size: 127x191 cm

Medium: Oil on Wood

Other Sources:

http://www.roman-colosseum.info/roman-gods/venus.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=eurQO9JVNA8C&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=jacopo+pontormo+venus&source=bl&ots=VhsA7PkWJQ&sig=gpCq8wdSEb46H04x0gmtv9Occno&hl=en&ei=Vi8US6YBksr-BvqT-DU&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=jacopo%20pontormo%20venus&f=false

Photo from: http://www.firenzemusei.it/00_english/accademia/vecu.html

Significance of the work:

Pontormo’s Cupid and Venus is the painted expression of one of Michelangelo’s sketches. His influence can easily be seen in the muscular bodies of both Venus and Cupid. As the goddess of physical beauty, Venus is portrayed in the nude. Venus was also the goddess of love and had several lovers including Vulcan, Mars, and Adonis. Cupid was the child of one such lover, Mars. Venus was the daughter of Jupiter and Dione, but she was said to have been born of the sea. Cupid and Venus remain as two of the most commonly recognizable gods and goddesses, and they are often depicted together.