Venus and Amor

In a dusky forest clearing, the goddess of love Venus lies with her son Cupid by a mossy fountain. Water flows over the rim of a shell-shaped basin into a small pool.

The goddess rests on a rich cloth of striped Indian silk woven with golden thread. Despite her slightly averted posture, …

the slipped white blouse reveals the sensual beauty of her body more than it conceals it.

One of her feet dangles in the pool.

Leaning her head casually on her left hand, Venus looks down at Amor (also known as Eros).

Amor plays with the two beaking doves (attributes of Venus) he has captured on a blue string.

His red quiver leans against his mother’s chariot, which is adorned with roses.

The roses, the water, the shell as well as the pearls in Venus’s hair are all traditional attributes of the goddess and references to her mythical birth from the sea. Her Greek name, Aphrodite, means ‘she who emerged from the foam’.

François Boucher (1703–1770) spent nearly thirty years in the service of the king of France, and his work shaped the taste of an entire era. The artist himself estimated his oeuvre at approximately 1,000 paintings and 10,000 drawings.

With small-format paintings such as ‘Venus and Amor’, Boucher created what are probably his finest and most intimate works.