Juno Borrowing the Cestus of Venus

Artist Angelica Kauffmann (Swiss, 1741 – 1807)

Date1776-1777

MediumPen and black ink with brush and grey wash over traces of graphite

DimensionsFrame: 22 5/8 x 18 5/8 in. (57.5 x 47.3 cm)
Image: 6 5/8 x 6 5/8 in. (16.8 x 16.8 cm)

ClassificationsDrawings

Credit LineMuseum purchase, 1971

Object numberSN899

In this work illustrating a passage from Homer's Illiad, Angelica Kauffman, one of the great Neoclassical painters, demonstrates her skill with drawing. Delicate and graceful, the Ringling composition reveals the versatility of the ink medium and its ability to suggest mood through varied tonalities. The grey of the cloud is modulated through the dilution of water, a technique similar to watercolor, softening and soothing the composition's atmosphere. The outlines of the drapery that cling to the Roman gods are achieved through a controlled pen, serving to better capture the body contours and deepen the pictorial plane. In theme and figural execution, the drawing is characteristically Neoclassical; however, the loose brushwork and sentimentality could also locate this work within the eighteenth-century Rococo style.

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