Venus and Cupid
Technical Details
-
Title
Venus and Cupid -
Author
Camillo Boccaccino -
Year
c. 1532 - 7 -
Dimensions
cm 143 x 120
Lomazzo wrote a sonnet in 1587 celebrating the picture he saw in the Speciano brothers’ home in Milan, clearly much taken with this Venus offering her breast to Cupid, sophisticated in pose yet realistic in her transparent veils and soft flesh. Rarely shown and with a complex history that brought it to the Duke of Rutland’s collection in Belvoir Castle with an attribution to Parmigianino, this authentic masterpiece is coeval with the Brera altarpiece. Seeing them together confirms Boccaccino’s place as a leading light in northern Italian Mannerism.
On loan from the heirs of Ruggero Poletti 2018.
