Lucas Cranach (1472-1553) - circle, Venus and Cupid as Honey Thieves (fragment), Lucas Cranach (1472-1553) - circle, Venus and Cupid as Honey Thieves (fragment)

45 x 47.5 cm

Venus looks at the viewer with a mischievous look and cheekily tilted head. Although she is naked, her blonde hair is tied back in a net and her head is covered by a red velvet hat with a wide brim. A wide collar adorns her neck. The image is a fragment of a larger image. At the feet of Venus, in fully preserved works, Cupid is seen holding a honeycomb and complaining to his mother Venus that he has been stung by bees. She replies that his love arrows don't hurt any less. This is said in the inscription at the top right. The theme goes back to Theocritus' Idyll XIX, a poem from the Hellenistic period. The verses for Cranach's painting probably come from Melanchthon, who published a Latin translation of Theocritus in 1528.
The subject of Venus and Cupid stealing honey was extensively worked by Cranach in his workshop and by artists who followed him, making it very popular. Cranach's paintings of Venus were among the first paintings north of the Alps, which explains their great popularity. Fragments with a small Cupid can be found in the Stuttgart State Gallery (Cranach the Elder) and in the Karlsruhe Art Gallery (copy from around 1600).
This work is a quality variant from the circle, or followers, of Lucas Cranach.
Oil on panel
45 x 47.5 cm