Venus Seated in Her Sea Chariot Suckling Cupid Alessandro Algardiabout 1645

Venus Seated in Her Sea Chariot Suckling Cupid
Alessandro Algardiabout 1645
From the collection of
The J. Paul Getty Museum
Held up by a triton wearing a garland of seaweed at his waist, Cupid suckles at a woman's breast-probably that of Venus, the goddess born from the sea. Her scallop-shell chariot drawn by two dolphins is a common attribute, recalling her birth from the sea. In the background, Neptune, ruler of the sea, brandishes his trident and rides in a shell chariot drawn by two hippocamps (sea horses).

In this drawing, Alessandro Algardi combined idealization of the human body derived from classical sculpture with convincing, realistic representation based on close observation of the human form. His energetic use of chalk imbued the scene with movement and caught the effect of light, particularly in his modeling of Venus's soft skin and the tritons' muscular flesh.

Algardi most often made drawings in association with sculptural projects. As the master of the illusionistic pictorial relief during the Baroque era in Rome, he may have designed this arrangement of figures for a low-relief sculpture, possibly for execution in embossed metalwork. Either Algardi, an assistant, or a later artist pricked only the outlines of the main group for transfer to another surface. Only the main group may have been used, or the project may have been abandoned or altered on the right side.
Details
Title: Venus Seated in Her Sea Chariot Suckling Cupid
Creator: Alessandro Algardi
Date: about 1645
Physical Dimensions: 30.3 x 44.8 cm (11 15/16 x 17 5/8 in.)
External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website. http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/359/alessandro-algardi-venus-seated-in-her-sea-chariot-suckling-cupid-italian-about-1645/
Medium: Black chalk, partially pricked for transfer
Source Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Object Type: Drawing
Object Status: Permanent Collection
Number: 92.GB.39
Display Location: Not currently on view
Department: Drawings
Culture: Italian
Classification: Drawings

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

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The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa in Malibu features Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities presented in a setting modeled after a first-century Roman country house, the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, Italy.

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Alessandro Algardi
Jul 31, 1598 - Jun 10, 1654

Alessandro Algardi was an Italian high-Baroque sculptor active almost exclusively in Rome, where for the latter decades of his life, he was, along with Francesco Borromini and Pietro da Cortona, one of the major rivals of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
http://hisour.com/art-medium/drawings/venus-seated-in-her-sea-chariot-suckling-cupid-alessandro-algardiabout-1645/