| Venus Consoling Love | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | François Boucher |
| Year | 1751 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 107 cm × 84.8 cm (42 in × 33.4 in) |
| Location | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
Venus Consoling Love is an oil-on-canvas painting executed in 1751 by the French artist François Boucher.[1][2] The painting depicts a mythological scene, where Venus, the goddess of Love, depicted as a charming and supple young woman, is impersonating the French Rococo's beauty ideals. She is about to disarm Cupid, by taking away his arrows, that he uses when shooting at people to make them fall in love.
"In Enlightenment France the dedicated search to define truth engendered a re–evaluation of the natural. The belief that it was right to follow nature, and that the pursuit of pleasure was natural, influenced the prevailing conception of the nude ...[3]
Venus sits beside the pond with doves, the goddess symbol. The white doves at her feet, her complexion, the pearls in her hair are just as luxurious like the silk draperies that were wrapped around her, but now are lying on the ground. Boucher painted the artwork with soft pastel tones using a dim silvery light. The painting was made with high technical skill. The principal charm of Rococo art is its sensuality and seductivity.[4]
- ^ "The Bath of Venus". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
- ^ [Boucher's success in communicating the charm and sensuality of the nude lies in his mastery of color and fluid brushstrokes ... The painting exemplifies the rococo love of asymmetric lines and sinuous curves, artfully arranged to seduce both the eye and the mind of the beholder."]
- ^ "The Bath of Venus". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
- ^ The National Gallery of Art, New York: Harrison House/Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1979