Mars and Venus

Artist Nicolas Poussin (French (active Rome), 1594-1665)

Place of OriginRome, Italy

Dateabout 1633-4

DimensionsPainting: 62 × 74 3/4 in. (157.5 × 189.9 cm)
Frame: 77 1/4 × 90 × 5 1/2 in. (196.2 × 228.6 × 14 cm)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1954.87

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 36

Label TextIn a lush landscape, Venus, Roman goddess of love and beauty, is attended by her handmaidens, the Three Graces, while Mars, the god of war, looks on admiringly. Cupids encourage his amorous attention, and two satyrs—lusty male forest deities—spy on the couple (look carefully for them peering from the bushes). The figures are inspired by Poussin’s study of ancient classical sculpture. The theme is derived from classical literature, which describes Mars as “disarmed” or “unmanned” by Venus—a symbol of love’s power to vanquish war. To illustrate this idea, Poussin shows Mars’s sword, spear, and helmet cast aside, while Venus uses his shield as a mirror. Born in France, Poussin spent most of his career in Rome, painting relatively small pictures for private patrons. His art reflected his intellectual sophistication and his interest in classical order, dignity, and ideal beauty. His classically restrained images contrast with the more theatrical, emotional style of Baroque painters like Rubens (compare this painting with Rubens’ Crowning of Saint Catherine in this gallery).Published ReferencesSmith, J., A Catalogue Raisonne of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, London, VIII, no. 289 (as Rinaldo and Armida).

Waagen, G., Treasures of Art in Great Britain, London, 1854, III, p. 393 (as Rinaldo and Armida).

Grautoff, O., Nicolas Poussin, sein Werk und sein Leben, Munich, 1914, I, p. 130, II, no. 60 (as Rinaldo and Armida, ca. 1633-1635).

Jamot, Paul, "Etudes sur Nicolas Poussin," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, S. 5, v. 4, 1921, pp. 92-93, repr. pl. p. 92.

Jamot, P., Connaisssance de Poussin, Paris, 1948, pp. 14-15, pl. 4 (as Rinaldo and Armida, pre-Roman period).

Blunt, A., "Nicolas Poussin," Burlington Magazine, XCI, Dec. 1949, p. 356 (as Poussin, Rinaldo and Armida, after 1624).

Friedlander, W., ed., The Drawings of Nicolas Poussin, Catalogue Raisonne, London, 1949, II, p. 21 (as Rinaldo and Armida).

Lee, R.W., review of W. Friedlander, ed., "The Drawings of Nicolas Poussin, Part II", in Art Bulletin, XXXV, 1953, p. 159 (suggests title Toilet of Venus).

"French Paintings: for a New Gallery in the Toledo Museum, Ohio," Illustrated London News, vol. 227, August 13, 1955, p. 271 repr.

"The Age of Versailles for Ohio," Art News, vol. 54, November 1955, p. 30 repr. (col.).

"The Year's Best: 1955," Art News, vol. 54, January 1956, p. 40.

Charmet, Raymond, "L'Art Francais au Musee de Toledo," Arts Spectacles, no. 556, February 22, 1956, p. 14.

Grigaut, Paul L., "Baroque and Rococo France in Toledo," Art Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 1, Spring 1956, p. 50.

Arts, vol. 31, November 1956, repr. on cover (detail).

Die Weltkunst, Jan. 15, 1956, repr. on cover.

Bulletin, Rhode Island School of Design, May 1956, pp. 9-12.

Art News, vol. 57, no. 9, Jan. 1959, pp. 34, 35 repr. in full and detail.

Illustrated London News, vol. 234, 1959, p. 259 repr.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bulletin, vol. 48, no. 1, Jan.-Mar. 1959, pp. 11-12.

Connoisseur, vol. 144, 1959, p. 124 repr.

Blunt, A., "La premiere periode romaine de Poussin," in Colloque Nicolas Poussin, (ed. A. Chastel), Paris, 1960, I, pp. 167, 168 (as Poussin Mars and Venus).

La Revue des Arts, vol. 10, 1960, p. 51 repr. (called Aneas Visiting Dido).

Mahon, D., "Poussin's Early Development: An Alternative Hypothesis," Burlington Magazine, CII, 1960, pp. 289, 290, 300 (as Poussin, Dido and Aeneas, mid-1630s).

"Minneapolis: Poussin nei Musei Americana," Emporium, vol. 131, 1960, pp. 187-189, repr. (detail) p. 188.

Blunt, A., review of A. Chastel, ed., "Colloque Nicolas Poussin," in Burlington Magazine, CII, 1960, p. 331 (as Dido and Aeneas, questions attribution to Poussin).

Colombier, Pierre du, "The Poussin Exhibition," Burlington Magazine, vol. 102, July 1960, p. 283.

Pantheon, vol. 18, 1960, p. lxxi, repr. p. lxxii.

Toledo Museum News, New Series, vol. 3, no. 4, Autumn 1960, repr. p. 77 (also published as French Art 1600-1800).

Spaeth, Eloise, American Art Museums and Galleries, New York, 1960, p. 133.

Blunt, A., "Poussin Studies, XII: The Hovingham Master," Burlington Magazine, CIII, 1961, pp. 457, 458, 461 (as The Hovingham Master).

Thuillier, J., "L'annee Poussin," Art de France, I, 1961, p. 340 (rejects Poussin attribution).

Grosser, Maurice, Critic's Eye, Indianapolis, 1962, p. 208.

Mahon, D., "Poussiniana, Afterthoughts Arising from the Exhibition," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, LX, 1962, p. 82, no. 241, p. 135, no. 405 (as Poussin, ca. 1634-1635).

Wallace, R., "The Later Version of Nicolas Poussin's 'Achilles in Scyros,'" Studies in the Renaissance, IX, 1962, p. 329 (as Dido and Aeneas, attributed to Poussin).

Blunt, A., The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin, A Critical Catalogue, London, 1966, no. R-74 (as the Hovingham Master).

Spaeth, Eloise, American Art Museums, New York, 1969, revised ed., p. 205.

Lucie-Smith, Edward, A Concise History of French Painting, London, 1971, p. 72, repr. fig. 65.

Greenhill, Eleanor S., Dictionary of Art, New York, 1974, repr. pl. 20.

Thuillier, J., Tout l'oeuvre peint de Poussin, Paris, 1974, no. R64 (as by Charles-Alphonse du Fresnoy).

The Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 129, 130-131, pl. 186.

Morse, John D., Old Master Paintings in North America, New York, 1979, p. 206.

Wild, Doris, Nicolas Poussin, Zurich, 1980, pp. 285, 286, repr. (R49) as Jacques Stella.

Bonfante, Larissa, "Poussin e gli specci etruschi," Prospettiva, no. 20, Jan. 1980, pp. 72-80, repr. fig. 1.

Rosenberg, Pierre, "Inventaire des tableaux francaise du XVIIe siecle appartenant aux collections publiques des Etats-Unis," in La peinture francaise du XVIIe siecle dans les collections americaines, Paris, 1982, p. 371, no. 10.

(Also in English edition: New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth Century French Paintings in American Collections, 1982).

Thuillier, Jacques, "Propositions pour II: Charles-Alphonse Du Fresnoy peinture," Revue de l'Art, no. 61, 1983, pp. 34, 37, 50 (no. 43), repr. fig. 6.

Bonfante, Larissa, ed., Etruscan Life and Afterlife, Detroit, 1986, p. 30, fig. I-13.

Wright, Christopher, Poussin Paintings: a Catalogue Raisonne, London, 1984, pp. 60-61, 183, 249, 266, 280, pl. 43, (col.) p. 94 [as "Dido and Aeneas"]

Merot, Alain, Nicolas Poussin New York, 1990, p. 36 [as "Dido and Aeneas"]

Thuillier, Jacques, Nicolas Poussin, Paris, 1994, p. 274.

The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 92, repr. (col.)

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 164, repr. (col.).

Rosenberg, Pierre, Où en sont les rechercecs sur Nicolas Poussin?, Conference sur l'art francais, Societé Franco-Japonaise d'Art et d'Archéeologie, Sept, 11, 2012, p. 2, fig. 3, p. 29.

Exhibition HistoryLondon, Arts Council, Landscape in French Art, 1550-1900, 1949, no. 60.

New York, Wildesnstein Galleries, The Nude in Painting, 1956.

Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Nicolas Poussin, 1594-1665, 1959, essays by A. Blunt and W. Friedlander, pp. 6, 7, 12, cat. entry p. 25, fig. 7 (as Mars and Venus, late 1620s).

Paris, Louvre, Nicolas Poussin, 1960, no. 1, pp. 214-215 (as Poussin, Dido and Aeneas, ca. 1624).

Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, Poussin, the Early Years in Rome, 1988, p. 25-26, 250, no. 14, fig. 4.