Venus and Mars Surprised by Vulcan
about 1585
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, brown wash, white gouache heightening, and black chalk, folded into squares, incised for transfer, lower right corner replaced
- Dimensions
- 41.6 × 31.3 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-207595
In the foreground, Vulcan has just pulled off the net in which he ensnared his wife Venus and her lover Mars; the other gods, called in by Vulcan, join in the ridicule from above. Seemingly without effort, Hendrick Goltzius integrated two groups of nudes in complex poses, filling out the composition with Cupid at the lower right and Vulcan forging the net in the background. Goltzius made this drawing as a full-scale model for an engraving in the manner of Bartholomäus Spranger. Spranger's mythological compositions featured complex, erotic poses, and Goltzius adopted the style for a number of drawings and engravings. The engraving after this drawing, Goltzius's largest and most complex in Spranger's style, helped to secure his reputation on its publication in 1585. The inscription on the engraving, *HGoltzius invenit sculpsit et divulgavit*, confirms that Goltzius acted as designer, engraver, and publisher for the print.
Provenance
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Registry history
- about 1585 — Recorded in the collection of J. Paul Getty Museum — drawings
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