Skip to Main Content

Provenance

Alessandro Tanari [1548-1639], Bologna, by 1638;[1] purchased 1828 from the Casa Tanari, Bologna, by (James Irvine, London and Rome) for Sir William Forbes, 7th bt. of Pitsligo [1773-1828];[2] by inheritance to his son, Sir John Stuart Hepburn Forbes, 8th bt. [1804-1866]; (sale of his father's pictures at Alexander Rainey's, London, 2 June 1842, no. 29).[3] Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro, of Novar, by 1854;[4] (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 1 June 1878, no. 19); bought by "Dyer" [probably the dealer and restorer William Dyer] for Sir John Charles Robinson [1824-1913], London;[5] sold 1878 to Sir Francis Cook, 1st bt. [1817-1901], Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey;[6] by inheritance to his son, Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd bt. [1844-1920], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd bt. [1868-1939], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th bt. [1907-1978], Doughty House, and Cothay Manor, Somerset; sold February 1948 to (Gualtiero Volterra, London) for (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence);[7] purchased 1949 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[8] gift 1961 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1908
Winter Exhibition, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1908, no. 20.
1986
The Age of Correggio and the Carracci: Emilian Painting of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1986-1987, no. 93, color repro.
2000
Faszination Venus: Bilder einer Göttin von Cranach bis Cabanel, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne; Alte Pinakothek, Munich; Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, 2000-2001, no. 15, repro.
2002
Tiziano/Rubens. Venus ante el espejo, Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 2002-2003, no. 3, repro.
2012
Da Vermeer a Kandinsky. Capolavori dai musei del mondo a Rimini, Castel Sismondo, Rimini, 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Technical Summary

The original support was a wood panel, probably consisting of two members with a horizontal join about 54 cm from the bottom of the composition. The ground is a dark layer overall and shows through in thinly painted areas. The paint layer was fluidly applied and, in general, is of medium thickness, with greatest buildup in the highlights of the figures and drapery. Venus' left arm was initially slightly higher, as indicated by pentimenti. Similar changes occurred in the left leg of the foreground Grace, whose left arm was also closer to her body.

Already in 1828 James Irvine noted that large losses had occurred in the figure of Venus and in the Grace behind her, and that the middle hues had sunken into what he called the dark brown ground.[1] The transfer was probably carried out in the early twentieth century (according to Mario Modestini) and was poorly executed. Damage incurred during the transfer process has resulted in a very uneven paint surface. Severe abrasion throughout also contributes to the generally poor condition, and particularly to the loss of modeling in the figures. The thinly applied middle tones, particularly those of the curtain, floor rug, and landscape, have become transparent and sunken into the dark ground, greatly reducing the painting's tonal contrasts. Mario Modestini removed discolored varnish and restored the picture in 1954-1955. He adjusted the inpainting in 1959. The inpainting was adjusted again in 1986 by Jia-sun Tsang.

[1] Report to Sir William Forbes (from the Irvine letters, private collection) kindly communicated by Hugh Brigstocke (letter of 20 December 1978, NGA curatorial files), who reports that the letters may now be in the National Library, Edinburgh (letter of 13 February 1990, NGA curatorial files).

Bibliography

1841
Malvasia, Carlo Cesare. Felsina Pittrice. Vite de' Pittori Bolognesi con aggiunte correzioni e note inedite deel'autore di Giampietro Zanotti e di altri scrittori. 2 vols. Bologna, 1841: 1:357 (originally published 1678, reprinted 1974).
1924
Voss, Herrmann. Die Malerei des Barock in Rom. Berlin, 1924: 503.
1932
Brockwell, Maurice W. Abridged Catalogye of the Pictures at Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, in the Collection of Sir Herbert Cook. London, 1932: no. 85.
1951
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 136, no. 58, repro.
1957
Longhi, Roberto. "Annibale 1584?" Paragone 89 (1957): 41.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 214, repro.
1961
Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 138, repro. pl. 129.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 23.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 16, repro.
1971
Posner, Donald. Annibale Carracci. A Study in the Reform of Italian Painting Around 1590. 2 vols. London, 1971: 1:51, 2:35, pl. 85.
1972
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 48, 647.
1972
Pepper, Stephen. "I limiti del positivismo: 'L'Annibale Carracci' di Donald Posner." Arte Illustrata 5 (1972): 267.
1973
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XVI-XVIII Century. London, 1973: 73-74, fig. 132.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 56, repro.
1976
Malafarina, Gianfranco. L'opera completa di Annibale Carracci. Milan, 1976: 75, no. 79, repro., color pl. 37.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:121-122; 2:pl. 83.
1980
Anderson, Jaynie. "Giorgione, Titian and the Sleeping Venus." In Tiziano e Venezia. Convegno internazionale di studi. Venezia, 1976. Vicenza, 1980: 340.
1983
Freedberg, Sydney. Circa 1600: A Revolution of Style in Italian Painting. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1983: 33-36, pl. 46.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 313, no. 411, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 76, repro.
1986
Christiansen, Keith. "Lorenzo Lotto and the Tradition of Epithalamic Painting." Apollo 124 (1986): 171.
1996
De Grazia, Diane, and Eric Garberson, with Edgar Peters Bowron, Peter M. Lukehart, and Mitchell Merling. Italian Paintings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 49-54, color repro. 51.
1999
Klessmann, Rüdiger. Johann Liss: A Monograph and Catalogue Raisonné. Translated from the German by Diane L. Webb. Doornspijk, 1999: 60, 64 fig. 57, 79 (as "The Toilet of Venus").

Related Content

  • Sort by:
  • Results layout:
Show  results per page
The image compare list is empty.