Venus and Cupid

Painted by Guercino in 1632 in the villa of Count Filippo Maria Aldrovandi, who had commissioned the decoration of his residence (in reality, a castle not far from Cento) following his marriage to Isabella Pepoli (1617). Venus and Cupid occupied a position above the fireplace in the room decorated with episodes from the Story of Clorinda, but was ripped from the wall in 1786, or thereabouts, and moved to the family’s residence in Bologna. The fresco was eventually donated to Pope Gregory XVI and transferred from the Capitoline Picture Gallery to the Accademia di San Luca in 1836.