Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan

Artist Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617)

Date1585

Mediumengraving on cream laid paper

Dimensions42 x 31 cm (plate)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift of Barbara K. and Robert M. Wheaton

Terms

Object number2010.14

Label TextWhen Karel van Mander, showed Goltzius drawings by Bartolomäus Spranger, he was impressed. In Rome, Spranger based his own Mannerist style on Parmigianino’s. This image—with its exaggerated figures, crowded composition, and intestiform clouds—was Goltzius’s first print after Spranger. In Homer’s tale from the Odyssey, Vulcan realized his wife Venus was having an affair with Mars. It was unwise to confront the god of war, so he made a metal net, fine as a cobweb but strong. Vulcan dropped it over the lovers’ bed, catching them for the gods to ridicule.ProvenanceBarbara K. and Robert B. Wheaton, Concord, MA

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