Venus and Cupid

Artist Guido Reni (Italian, 1575-1642)

Place of OriginBologna, Italy

Date1626

DimensionsPainting: 89 7/8 × 62 in. (228.3 × 157.5 cm)
Frame: 104 1/4 × 76 1/2 × 4 1/2 in. (264.8 × 194.3 × 11.4 cm)

MediumOil on canvas.

ClassificationPaintings

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

Object number

1972.86

On View

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

Label TextVenus, goddess of love and beauty, and her son, Cupid, mischievous child-god of love, were a favorite subject for artists of the Renaissance and later centuries. Here Venus gently and teasingly takes Cupid’s bow away, preventing him from inflicting the wounds of love (for a similar theme on the “disarming” effects of love, see Poussin’s Mars and Venus nearby). The pair is surrounded by symbols of love: roses, doves, and a carved band on the bed showing the lovers Mars and Venus with Cupid. To contrast with the dynamism of the strong diagonals, Guido Reni emphasized the contours of the graceful, elongated figures, whose cool, delicately modulated tones recall the appearance of marble sculpture. This painting was apparently executed for a goldsmith, who intended to sell it for a profit. As payment, he gave Guido Reni a diamond; the painting was subsequently known as Il Diamante. Reni, known in his day as the “Divine Guido”, was revered for his classically inspired, gracefully proportioned figures, balanced and harmonious compositions, and delicate color.Published ReferencesLuzio, A., La galleria dei Gonzaga venduta all'Inghilterra, 1627-1628, Milan, 1913, p. 317.

Scaramuccia, L., Le finezze de'pennelli italiani, Pavia, 1674, p. 122.

Malvasia, C.C., Felsina pittrice, Vite de'pittori Bolognesi, Bologna, 1678; 1841 ed., II, pp. 32, 65.

Waagen, G. F., Treasures of Art in Great Britain, III, London, 1854, p. 430.

Gnudi, C., and Cavalli, G. C., Guido Reni, 1955, pp. 95 (under no. 98, Venus and Cupid, Dresden), 116.

Garboli, C., and E. Baccheschi, L'Opera completa di Guido Reni, Milan, 1971, pp. 107-108, no. 159, (Copy formerly in Berlin, destroyed 1945).

Pepper, D. S., "Guido Reni's 'Il Diamante': A New Masterpiece for Toledo," Burlington Magazine, CXV, Oct. 1973, pp. 630-641, figs. 1, 2, 5, 6.

"La chronique des arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 83, no. 1261, Feb. 1974, p. 118, repr.

"Recent Accessions...," Art Quarterly, vol. 37, no. 1, Spring 1974, p. 101, repr. p. 110.

"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 19, nos. 2 & 3, 1976, repr. p. 110.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 42, det. (col.) p. 43.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 135, pl. 18, color pl. V.

Clark, Kenneth, Feminine Beauty, New York, 1980, p. 115, repr. (col.) p. 116.

A Dealer's Record: Agnew's 1967-1981, London, 1981, p. 12, repr. p. 52.

Stevenson, Sara, John Michael Wright: The King's Painter, Edinburgh, 1982, p. 39, repr. fig. 8.

Pepper, Stephen D., Guido Reni, Oxford, 1984, no. 110., pp. 47-48, 61-62 (no. 29), 255, pls. IX (col.), 136.

Spear, Richard E., "Re-Viewing the 'Divine' Guido," Burlington, vol. 131, no. 1034, May 1989, p. 372.

Pepper, Stephen D., "Guido Reni: A Review Reviewed," Burlington, vol. 132, no. 1044, Mar. 1990, p. 222.

Spear, Richard E., The "Divine" Guido: Religion, Sex, Money and Art in the World of Guido Reni, New Haven, 1997, pp. 77, 231, 233, 342, nos. 4, 371, nos. 40 and 41, p. 382, no. 126, pl. 105, 106 (det.) [as Studio of Guido Reni].

Chapeaurouge, Donat de, "Guide Renis 'Venus' und der 'Laokoon,'" Pantheon, vol. 56, 1998, pp. 108-111, fig. 2, p. 109.

Duncan, Sally Anne, Otto Wittmann: Museum Man for All Seasons, Toledo, 2001, p. 4.

Agüero, Cristina, Una Venus de Giovanni Andrea Sirani en el Palacio de la Granja, Patrimonio Nacional, 2015, p. 12 repr. (col).

de Fuccia, Laura, "La VEnise de Nicolas Regnier: Une scene baroque," in Dossier de l'Art,, no. 255, December 2017-March 2018, p. 44, repr. (col.) p. 44.

Brady, Aoife, "The Studio of Guido Reni from 1620-1630: Formulating Compositions", in Getty Research Journal, Number 12, 2020, p. 18, repr. (col.) fig. 9.

Exhibition HistoryLondon, Royal Academy, Exhibition of Works by Old Masters, Winter, 1880, no. 101 (as "Il Diamante").

Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale; Washington, National Gallery of Art; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nell'età di Correggio e dei Carracci, 1986-1987, no. 182, pp. 513-514, repr. [Washington & New York only].

Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Guido Reni, 1575-1642, 1988-1989, no. 40, p. 262, repr. (col.). [cat. in English]

Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Museum of Art; Wellesley, MA, Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Women Who Ruled: Queens, Goddesses, Amazons in Renaissance and Baroque Art, 2002, pp. 145, 157, pl. 80 (col.)