Venus and Anchises

Artist Elisabetta Sirani (Italian, 1638-1665)

Datec. 1655

CultureItalian

MediumBrush and brown wash over black chalk with traces of white chalk

ClassificationDrawings

Provenance(Herbert E. Feist, New York, New York, February 26, 1971); purchased by the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 1971-present.

Credit LineMuseum purchase, 1971

Object numberSN309

Elisabetta Sirani, daughter of Giovanni Andrea Sirani (Guido Reni's principal assistant) became a professional painter at the age of seventeen. Although the details of her training are unclear, it is most probable that she received instruction from her father. While her father's work is generally regarded as a reflection of Reni's later style, Elisabetta not only mastered certain aspects of Reni's technique, but also surpassed them. In this drawing, she displays her lively brush and wash technique and virtuosic understanding of tonal range. The subject of the drawing is the love affair between the goddess Venus and the shepherd Anchises. Pictured here is the union that led to the conception of their son Aeneas, the famed Trojan warrior of Homer's Iliad.

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