Artwork Page for Hymn to Venus

Details / Information for Hymn to Venus

Hymn to Venus

c. 1760–65

Louis Felix de la Rue

(French, 1731–1765)
Culture
France, 18th century
Medium
Pen and brown ink over red chalk (?) on antique laid paper
Measurements
Sheet: 38.8 x 44.2 cm (15 1/4 x 17 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2019.253
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

The verso of this drawing is covered in the artist’s calculations and notations, suggesting that he reused a sheet found in his studio to create it.

Description

Louis Félix de La Rue came from a family of artists and was best known for creating designs for decorative arts, such as ceramics. This sheet—which features putti and bacchantes, the artist’s preferred subjects—likely served such a purpose, given its allover composition and focus on patterning and symmetry.
A reddish-brown ink drawing in dense fine lines depicts people with light skin tones in a garden. In the foreground pool, winged child figures play with swans. At the center, Venus sits within a domed pavilion flanked by muscular men acting as architectural supports. Vine-covered trellises and arches frame the symmetrical composition. In the background, a distant landscape recedes through openings on either side of the central structure.

Hymn to Venus

c. 1760–65

Louis Felix de la Rue

(French, 1731–1765)
France, 18th century

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