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Mars, Venus and Cupid with Vulcan at his forge (the Mantuan Roundel)

attributed to Gian Marco Cavalli Italian
ca. 1500
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 536
Golden-winged Venus, goddess of love, raptly gazes at Mars, while her husband Vulcan fabricates the war god’s helmet. Standing on her lap, her son Cupid points love’s arrow toward Mars and scowls at Vulcan who has left unfinished the infant god’s small wings, without which he cannot hit his mark. The Latin inscription admonishes them: Venus Mars and Love rejoice. Vulcan, you labor! This magnificent bronze relief, attributed to the goldsmith-sculptor Gian Marco Cavalli, was produced within the refined culture of the Northern Italian Gonzaga court in Mantua, in which such antiquarian inventions were highly prized.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mars, Venus and Cupid with Vulcan at his forge (the Mantuan Roundel)
  • Artist: attributed to Gian Marco Cavalli (Italian, ca. 1454–after 1508, activity documented 1475–1508)
  • Date: ca. 1500
  • Culture: Italian, Mantua
  • Medium: Parcel-gilt bronze with silver inlay, integrally cast gilt frame with suspension loop.
  • Dimensions: confirmed: 11/16 × 16 9/16 in., 14.2 lb. (1.7 × 42 cm, 6.4 kg)
    Height with suspension loop: 18 3/8 in. (46.7 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Bronze
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Isaacson-Draper Fund, Florence and Herbert Irving Acquisitions Fund, 2021 Benefit Fund, Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, Walter and Leonore Annenberg Acquisitions Endowment Fund, Charlotte and Alejandro Santo Domingo, Michel David-Weill, David T Schiff, Annette de la Renta, Mark Fisch, the Hon. Kimba Wood and Frank Richardson, Denise and Andrew Saul, Beatrice Stern, Wrightsman Fellows, and members of the Acquisitions Committee Gifts, 2022
  • Object Number: 2022.6
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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