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Vulcan Building a Fence Around the Mount of Venus

Circle of Giovanni Bellini Italian
late 15th century
Not on view
Perched upon a rocky mount, Venus and her son Cupid are accompanied by attendants. Below, Venus’s husband Vulcan (god of fire and metalworking) builds a fence around them amid putti, rabbits, and a peacock, all symbols of love and fertility. The god of spring wind, Zephyrus, blows flowers on the goddess. The bull in the upper left symbolizes the zodiacal sign of Taurus that governs the month of April along with Venus. This allegory of April may have been a preparatory design for a lost series of paintings depicting the twelve months; it closely recalls a fresco cycle of this type in Ferrara (Palazzo Schifanoia) by Francesco Cossa. The drawing has been attributed to a follower of Cossa or an artist in the circle of the Venetian master Giovanni Bellini.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Vulcan Building a Fence Around the Mount of Venus
  • Artist: Circle of Giovanni Bellini (Italian, Venice, 1424/26–1516 Venice) ca. 1430–1516
  • Date: late 15th century
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink, over traces of black chalk.
  • Dimensions: 11 1/8 x 15 9/16 in. (28.3 x 39.6 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.320
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

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