Venus at the Forge of Vulcan

Venus, the goddess of love, resplendent in a brilliant blue gown, looks down at a gold shield emblazoned with an image of Athena. Venus went to her husband Vulcan's forge and asked him to make arms for her son Aeneas. Here, the powerfully built Vulcan holds upright the shield intended for Aeneas, gestures to the armor at his feet, and looks up at his wife for her approval. In the lower left-hand corner are two Cyclopes who have made the armor under Vulcan's direction.

Francesco Solimena made a series of mythological paintings for the Procurator Canale in Venice. This canvas and its pendant, Tithonus Dazzled by the Crowning of Aurora, may commemorate a marriage, as both pictures show gifts exchanged between goddesses and their husbands.