Lot 1084 | Venus and Adonis

DANDINI, PIETRO
Florence 1646 ca. - 1712


Title: Venus and Adonis.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Mounting: Relined.
Measurement: 84 x 115cm.
Frame/Pedestal: Framed.
Provenance:
Private ownership, Italy.

Certificate:
S. Bellesi, enclosed as copy.

The present work foregrounds the famous lovers Venus and Adonis, whose story is essentially told in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The beautiful Adonis, born of the incestuous relationship between the king of Cyprus, Cinira, and his daughter Myrrh, attracted the attention of Venus, who, stung by an arrow of love from her son Cupid, felt an overwhelming passion for the young man. Their love was short-lived, however, for Adonis was mortally wounded by a wild boar during a hunt and died in the arms of his beloved goddess. According to the myth, anemones sprouted from the blood that flowed from Adonis' body, flowers that were to commemorate the young hunter's death and Venus' immeasurable pain for all eternity.
The scene of the painting, imbued with exhilarating sensuality, shows the two protagonists in the foreground on a large boulder in the middle of a wooded area. All around are figures and attributes of the goddess of love and beauty.
The present painting was convincingly identified by Sandro Bellesi as the work of Pietro (or better known as Pier) Dandini due to the composition and structure of the scene and as a result of stylistic elements. The artist was one of the leading exponents of the Tuscan Baroque and one of the most important Florentine interpreters of the style of Pietro da Cortona and his successors such as Ciro Ferri.
Born in Florence, Pietro Dandini was introduced to painting by his uncle Vincenzo Dandini, who was also a painter. A few trips to Venice and Rome softened his style, which was influenced by the delicate style of Venetian painting and structured by the thoughtful compositions of Paolo Veronese. He was promoted and admired by the Medici family and the Florentine aristocracy and received numerous commissions in fresco and easel painting. He painted mythological and literary subjects, historical incidents and sensual moral allegories, as well as religious scenes characterised by a poignant piety.