| Venus with Mercury and Cupid | |
|---|---|
| The School of Love, The Education of Cupid | |
 | |
| Artist | Correggio |
| Year | c. 1525 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 155.6 cm× 91.4 cm(61.3 in× 36.0 in) |
| Location | National Gallery, London |
| Website | www |
Venus with Mercury and Cupid, The School of Love or The Education of Cupid is a c. 1525 painting by the Italian painter Correggio, now in the National Gallery. [1] It depicts the deities Cupid, Mercury, and Venus.
A preparatory sketch for it survives in the British Museum. Venus and Cupid with a Satyr (now in the Louvre) seems to be its pendant - that painting is larger but Venus with Mercury and Cupid may have been cut down later. They were probably commissioned by Nicola Maffei (c.1487-1536) and the early fame of Venus with Mercury and Cupid is attested by a copy made by Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli.
However, the first written reference to the two paintings is in 1627, by which time they were in the Gonzaga collection in Mantua (the Maffeis were closely linked to the Gonzagas). Between 1627 and 1628 both paintings were acquired from the Gonzagas by Charles I [2] and it is attested as being in Whitehall Palace in 1639. His collection also contained copies of the painting and its pendant by Peter Oliver, known as Venerie Coeleste (Sacred Love) and Venerie Mundano (Profane Love) respectively. [3]
At the sale of Charles' goods it was valued at £800 and sold on 23 October 1651 to Thomas Bagley, a glazier in the royal household. It was bought in 1653 by the Spanish ambassador Alonso de Cárdenas for 1600 escudos (£400). He was acting as the agent for Luis de Haro, who had planned to present it to Philip IV of Spain. However, when the painting arrived in Madrid Velazquez challenged its attribution to Correggio and Luis decided to keep it for himself. [4]
It was inherited by Luis' son Gaspar de Haro, then by Gaspar's daughter Catalina, wife of Francisco Álvarez de Toledo, 10th Duke of Alba, whose family retained it until 1802. That year the Duchy of Alba was inherited from the Duchess of Alba by the 7th Duke of Berwick and Liria - her relations entered litigation against him, in the course of which Charles IV of Spain ordered that the painting be sold to Manuel de Godoy. De Godoy was arrested six years later, and the painting was confiscated along with the rest of his goods by Joachim Murat, who took it to Naples. After Murat's defeat and execution during the Hundred Days in 1815, his widow Caroline fled to Vienna, taking the painting with her. Later that year she sold it to the future 3rd Marquess of Londonderry. In 1834 Londonderry sold it to the National Gallery in London, where it now hangs.
At least four early copies of the painting are known:
At least two versions, those at Sibiu and Chenonceau, are still exhibited as authentic works by Correggio.
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Venus and Cupid with a Satyr is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Antonio da Correggio. It is now in the Musée du Louvre in Paris.
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Gaspar Méndez de Haro, 7th Marquess of Carpio, Gaspar Méndez de Haro y Fernández de Córdoba, or Gaspar de Haro y Guzmán(1 June 1629 – 16 November 1687), 3 times a Grandee of Spain including the Carpio Marquisate since 10 May 1640 by king Philip IV of Spain, Governor of Flanders, Ambassador in Rome, 1677–1682, Viceroy of Naples, 1683 - died in office there in 1687, 2nd Duke of Montoro since November 1661, and many other high nobility titles, was a Spanish political figure and art collector.
Carlo Antonio Porporati was an Italian engraver and painter.
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Venus and Musician refers to a series of paintings by the Venetian Renaissance painter Titian and his workshop.
Ganymede Abducted by the Eagle is a painting by the Italian late Renaissance artist Antonio da Correggio. It is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.
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Leda and the Swan is an oil on canvas painting from 1530–31 by the Italian painter Correggio, now in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. It shows three scenes of Leda's seduction by Jupiter who has taken the form of a swan. Their first meeting is shown on the right hand side and their lovemaking in the centre, where Leda sits with the swan between her thighs, guiding him with her left hand. They are accompanied to their left by Cupid with his bow and two cupids with flutes. The third scene is the swan flying away whilst Leda gets dressed. Leda and the Swan was a common subject in 16th-century art.
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