Venus and Cupid trampling on a Serpent thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case TOPIC, Shelf 2A

Venus and Cupid trampling on a Serpent

Pen and Ink on Vellum
second half 15th century - early 16th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Parentino, Bernardo (artist)
Place of origin
Italy (drawn)

Venus and Cupid trampling on a Serpent; Venus, standing, wearing only a piece of drapery over her arms. she holds a vase in her left hand and presses one of her breasts with the other. Cupid stands behind with his torch; Pen and ink on vellum.


Object details

Categories
Drawings
Myths & Legends
Androgyny
Object type
Pen and ink on vellum
TitleVenus and Cupid trampling on a Serpent
Materials and techniques
pen and ink on vellum
Pen and Ink
Vellum (Paper)
Drawing
Hatching
Brief description
Parentino, Bernardo (probably); Venus and Cupid trampling on a Serpent; Pen and ink on vellum; Previously attributed to Antonio Del Pollajuolo; Italian School; Second half 15th century - early 16th century.
Physical description
Venus and Cupid trampling on a Serpent; Venus, standing, wearing only a piece of drapery over her arms. she holds a vase in her left hand and presses one of her breasts with the other. Cupid stands behind with his torch; Pen and ink on vellum.
Dimensions
  • Height: 24.2cm
  • Width: 17.1cm
Dimmensions taken from the exhibition catalogue: DRAWING Technique & Purpose. Victoria & Albert Museum. 28th January 1981.
Style
Florentine School
Gallery label
The catalogue and exhibition label text is as follows: '2. Probably by Bernardo Parentino (1437-1531); Italian Venus and Cupid trampling on a Serpent Inscribed in ink by Padre Resta M. 1 (Lugt 2981) and Antonio Poll From the collections of Padre Resta and Lord Somers Pen and ink on vellum 24.2 x 17.1 cm VAM Dyce 149 (Dyce Bequest) Ink on vellum was well adapted to express, through hatching, the clarity of quattrcento painting. Very similar hatching was used in contemporary Italian engravings, and it has been suggested that this drawing is preparatory to such a print. The mount with its wash lines is Padre Resta's (1635-1714). (PWJ I 14)'(28/01/1981)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce
Object history
This object was previously attributed to Antonio Del Pollajuolo.
Subjects depicted
Snake
Vase
Altar
Woman
Cupid
Venus
Cupid
Bibliographic references
  • Supportive text for Collection Box Topic 2a: Drawing Technique and Purpose, Victoria & Albert Museum.
  • DYCE COLLECTION. A Catalogue of the Paintings, Miniatures, Drawings, Engravings, Rings and Miscellaneous Objects Bequeathed by The Reverend Alexander Dyce. London : South Kensington Museum, 1874.
  • Lambert, Susan. Drawing: Technique and Purpose, London: H.M.S.O and Victoria and Albert Museum, 1981 no.2, p.7
  • Ward-Jackson, Peter, Italian Drawings. Volume I. 14th-16th century, London, 1979, pp. 19-20 The following is the full text of the entry: (?) PARENTINO, BERNARDO (1437- I 53 I) 14 Venus and Cupid trampling on a serpent beside an altar Inscribed in ink 'm.i.' as in Lugt 2981. Inscribed on the mount 'Antonio Poll [aiulo]', the last two syllables being torn away Pen and ink on vellum 9! x 61 (242 x 171) Dyce 149 PROVENANCE Padre Resta (see below); Lord Somers (no. m. 1 as. in Lugt 2981); Dyce Bequest 1869 LITERATURE Dyce Catalogue no. 149 (as by Antonio Pollaiuolo); Reitlinger, p. 7, no. 7 (as North Italian, late 15th century); J. Byam Shaw, 'A lost portrait of Mantegna and a group of Paduan drawings' in OMD, 9, no. 33, June 1934, p. 4 and pl. 7; Z. Wazbinski, 'A propos de quelques dessins de Parentino pour le Couvent de Santa Giustina' in Arte Veneta, 17, 1963, pp. 21-6 and fig. 25 The name Antonio Pollaiuolo is written against the number m.1. in the Resta MS in the British Museum (described in Popham, Resta ; Lugt5 2981; and Lugt, Supplement , p. 419). Byam Shaw places the drawing in a group of drawings that he ascribes to Parentina, and Wazninski endoreses the attribution. The latter compares the Venus and the Cupid with the figures in a scene showing a sacrifice in Parentino with certainty. The name is, nevertheless, a convenient one to cover a fairly homogenous group of Paduan origin, dating from the end of the 15th century or the beginning of the 16th. The drawing is similar to no. 12 above in handling, composition and mood, as well as in the artist's predilection for slender, androgynous women with long legs, narrow hips and small high breasts. The drawings might even be by the same hand. But some of the similarities are generic rather than particular, and if we compare the left hand of each goddess, which is in exactly the same position in each drawing, holding a vase, the differences in handling suggest two different artists. The use of the left hand to hold the vase may mean that both drawings were designs for engravings.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
DYCE.149

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1025889/venus-and-cupid-trampling-on-pen-and-ink-parentino-bernardo/
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