The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 26, 2023

Venus

c. 1560

Danese Cattaneo

(Italian, 1509–1573)

Italy, 16th century

Bronze

Overall: 52.9 x 20 x 12 cm (20 13/16 x 7 7/8 x 4 3/4 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1950.578

Location

not on view

Description

Cattaneo's Venus is reminiscent of the ancient Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles (Greek, c. 375–340 BC), as Venus holds her drapery in her right hand, leaving her body fully exposed. This work recalls Cattaneo's bronze sculptures of goddesses with the unbalanced curvature of the body and elaborately sculpted hair. Along with the hands and feet, the back of the figure is largely unfinished, indicating that it probably originally stood against a wall or in a niche.

Provenance
Hans Gutmann (Vienna, Austria)
Erich Lederer (Geneva, Switzerland), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1950.
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 93 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 93 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 108 archive.org
Exhibition history

Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962).

Collecting Drawings in England. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 3, 1987-January 17, 1988).

The Persistence of Classicism in Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1988-January 15, 1989).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.578