Allegory of Spring
Artist: Francesco de Mura (Italian, 1696-1782)
Date: 1759
Dimensions:
Overall: 40 1/2 x 51 in. (102.9 x 129.5 cm)
Frame: 46 × 56 3/4 × 2 5/8 in. (116.8 × 144.1 × 6.7 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1979.79
Label Text:The inspiration for this painting comes from the first stanzas of an ode by the ancient Roman poet Horace that describes Spring’s renewal in terms of Greek and Roman myth. De Mura shows Venus, goddess of love (and a patroness of Pompeii), seated amongst the dancing Graces and Nymphs heralding the return of Spring. In the background on the slopes of the erupting Vesuvius, Vulcan, the god of fire (from whom “volcano” takes its name), works with his assistants at his blacksmith’s forge.
Francesco De Mura was court painter to Charles III of Naples, for whom this painting may have been commissioned. Charles III financed early digging at the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This digging was essentially plundering to furnish the royal palaces, and little interest was shown in documenting exactly where the objects were uncovered.
Francesco De Mura was court painter to Charles III of Naples, for whom this painting may have been commissioned. Charles III financed early digging at the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This digging was essentially plundering to furnish the royal palaces, and little interest was shown in documenting exactly where the objects were uncovered.
Not on view
In Collection(s)