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Venus and Adonis

probably mid-1630s
Not on view
Rubens took the subject of this painting from the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Accidently pricked by one of Cupid’s arrows, Venus fell in love with the handsome hunter Adonis. With cavalier indifference to the goddess’s adoration and her warnings of danger, Adonis hunted a wild boar and was gored to death. Rubens shows their leave-taking—a popular subject also famously depicted by Titian in another picture now at The Met. By adapting subjects explored by earlier artists, Rubens asserted his own status as their worthy successor.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Venus and Adonis
  • Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
  • Date: probably mid-1630s
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: With added strips, 77 3/4 x 95 5/8 in. (197.5 x 242.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Harry Payne Bingham, 1937
  • Object Number: 37.162
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
Rubens, Helena Fourment (1614–1673), and Their Son Frans (1633–1678), Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, Oil on wood
Rubens, Helena Fourment (1614–1673), and Their Son Frans (1633–1678)
Peter Paul Rubens
ca. 1635
Corporation Banner of Crossbow Guild, Silk, Flemish
Corporation Banner of Crossbow Guild
Flemish
late 17th century
Piazza San Marco, Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Italian, Oil on canvas
Piazza San Marco
Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal)
late 1720s
Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume, Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, Black, red, and white chalk, blue pastel, and pen and brown and black ink on light brown laid paper
Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume
Peter Paul Rubens
1617
Cosimo II de' Medici (1590–1621), Grand Duke of Tuscany, Justus Sustermans Flemish, Oil on canvas, transferred from wood, Flemish
Cosimo II de' Medici (1590–1621), Grand Duke of Tuscany
Workshop of Justus Sustermans
1597–1681

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