Venus and Cupid with a Satyr
Encyclopedia
Venus and Cupid with a Satyr (c. 1528) is a painting by the Italian late Renaissance
artist Antonio Allegri da Correggio. It is housed in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The painting was commissioned by Federico II Gonzaga, duke of Mantua
. It depicts Venus
sleeping with her son Eros. Behind them, a satyr
is caught while discovering the goddess. The picture was incorrectly identified as portraying Jupiter
and Antiope
as, according to the legend, Zeus had turned himself into a satyr to kidnap the nymph.
The painting was probably connected to the Education of Cupid, now in the National Gallery
of London.
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
artist Antonio Allegri da Correggio. It is housed in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The painting was commissioned by Federico II Gonzaga, duke of Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
. It depicts Venus
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
sleeping with her son Eros. Behind them, a satyr
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
is caught while discovering the goddess. The picture was incorrectly identified as portraying Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
and Antiope
Antiope (mother of Amphion)
In Greek mythology, Antiope was the name of the daughter of the Boeotian river god Asopus, according to Homer; in later sources she is called the daughter of the "nocturnal" king Nycteus of Thebes or, in the Cypria, of Lycurgus, but for Homer her site is purely Boeotian. Her beauty attracted Zeus,...
as, according to the legend, Zeus had turned himself into a satyr to kidnap the nymph.
The painting was probably connected to the Education of Cupid, now in the National Gallery
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
of London.