Venus and Cupid thumbnail 1
Venus and Cupid thumbnail 2
+4
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 111, The Gilbert Bayes Gallery

Venus and Cupid

Group
ca. 1600-1625 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Lost-wax casting was an expensive and highly skilled process. It usually required collaboration between a sculptor and a foundry. Despite the careful finishing of the work, the bronze often retains traces of the casting process. The underside of this statuette reveals many features of the casting process. You can see the end of a sawn-off sprue, as well as ‘flashes’ of bronze which have seeped through the mould when the molten metal was poured in.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleVenus and Cupid (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Brief description
Statuette group, bronze, of Venus and Cupid, French or Netherlandish, ca. 1600-25
Physical description
Group in bronze. Venus, naked, is seated with her feet crossed on a mantle spread over the ground, half reclining against a rock and embracing Cupid with her right arm; he is standing, looking up into her face, holding a bracelet (?) in his right hand and touching her neck with his left. Dark brown patina over pale bronze with reddish patches.
Dimensions
  • Height: 18.5cm
  • Width: 24cm
Style
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Object history
From the Salting bequest.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Lost-wax casting was an expensive and highly skilled process. It usually required collaboration between a sculptor and a foundry. Despite the careful finishing of the work, the bronze often retains traces of the casting process. The underside of this statuette reveals many features of the casting process. You can see the end of a sawn-off sprue, as well as ‘flashes’ of bronze which have seeped through the mould when the molten metal was poured in.
Bibliographic references
  • Trusted, Marjorie, ed. The Making of Sculpture. The Materials and Techniques of European Sculpture. London: 2007, p. 52, pl. 86
  • 'Salting Bequest (A. 70 to A. 1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A. 1030 to A. 1096-1910)'. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture). London: Printed under the Authority of his Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, East Harding Street, EC, p. 3
Collection
Accession number
A.86-1910

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Record createdJanuary 6, 2004
Record URL
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