Luca Cambiaso, “Venus and Cupid”
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.
c. 1570, oil on canvas
"The most important and inventive painter in 16th-century Genoa, Luca Cambiaso developed a poetic style characterized by soft, rounded figures and elusive, silvery light. In this representation of ‘Venus and Cupid,’ heh positioned the goddess of love in profile, recalling an antique cameo. The canopied bed lends an unusual intimacy to the mythological scene. The broken strap on the quiver indicates that the goddess has disarmed her son, who, vulnerable, seeks his mother’s comfort. Ironically, the young god, notorious for wounding others with his arrows, raised his index finger to show Venus where he has been stung by a bee.”
This was one of my favourite paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago.
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