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Venus Marina, Cupid at Her Side

ca. 1820–30
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 556
Amazingly, the relief’s surface is concave. Benedetto Pistrucci used his drill in a virtuoso excavation of the strata, employing the palest brown to outline the goddess’s shell and team of dolphins, shaping an exquisite bowknot from the foremost brown, and piercing the white layer perilously close to the black ground to define the sail-like drapery and dainty silken reins. The frame of about 1820–30 was later fleshed out with filigree.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Venus Marina, Cupid at Her Side
  • Artist: Benedetto Pistrucci (Italian, 1783–1855, active England)
  • Date: ca. 1820–30
  • Culture: British, London
  • Medium: Onyx, gold
  • Dimensions: Visible cameo, overall: 1 13/16 x 1 3/16 in. (4.5 x 3 cm), 45.3 x 30 mm; Overall (in setting): 2 1/4 x 1 3/4 in. (5.7 x 4.4 cm)
  • Classification: Lapidary Work-Gems
  • Credit Line: The Milton Weil Collection, 1940
  • Object Number: 40.20.49
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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