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Pleasure

ca. 1754
Not on view
Mengs, born in Bohemia, was for the most part trained in Rome, where he settled in 1751 and lived for much of his life. His contemporaries knew him as a gifted practitioner and theorist of Neoclassicism. Among his most famous works is the Parnassus ceiling in Cardinal Albani’s villa in Rome, completed in 1761. During a stay in Dresden, about 1744, he saw pastels by the artist Rosalba Carriera and emulated them, developing a successful practice as a court portraitist. The present work was studied from a model and perfected in accordance with Mengs’s understanding of classical standards. The figure represents Pleasure and is based upon an iconographical type developed by Cesare Ripa. The coloring is varied, the modeling delicate and softly blended.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pleasure
  • Artist: Anton Raphael Mengs (German, Ústi nad Labem (Aussig) 1728–1779 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1754
  • Medium: Pastel on paper, laid down on canvas
  • Dimensions: Oval, 24 3/8 x 19 1/4 in. (61.9 x 48.9 cm)
  • Classification: Pastels & Oil Sketches on Paper
  • Credit Line: Victor Wilbour Memorial, The Alfred N. Punnett Endowment, and Marquand Funds, 2005
  • Object Number: 2005.231
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Anton Raphael Mengs German, Red chalk, graphite; squared in graphite
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Anton Raphael Mengs
mid-18th–late 18th century
The Triumph of History over Time, Anton Raphael Mengs German, Black and white chalk, on blue paper
The Triumph of History over Time
Anton Raphael Mengs
1771–75 (?)
Holy Family with St. John the Baptist, Anton Raphael Mengs German, Pen and brown ink, squared for transfer in black chalk
Holy Family with St. John the Baptist
Anton Raphael Mengs
mid-18th century
Seated Nude Male, Anton Raphael Mengs German, Black chalk, heightening with white, brown wash (?), on gray-brown paper
Seated Nude Male
Anton Raphael Mengs
n.d.
Oedipus before the Temple of the Furies between his Daughters Antigone and Ismene, Anton Raphael Mengs German, Pen and brown ink, bown wash, heightened with white gouache, over graphite
Oedipus before the Temple of the Furies between his Daughters Antigone and Ismene
Anton Raphael Mengs
ca. 1760–61

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