Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time
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| Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time |
| Agnolo Bronzino, circa 1545 |
| Oil on wood |
| 146 × 116 cm |
| National Gallery, London |
Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time is an allegorical painting by the Florentine artist Agnolo Bronzino.
Around 1545, Bronzino was commissioned to create a painting which has come to be known as Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time. It displays the ambivalence, eroticism and obscure imagery which is characteristic of the Mannerist period. Bronzino, who studied with Pontormo, painted in the highly etched and sculptural manner of Florentines.
The painting may had been commissioned by the Duke of Florence, Cosimo de' Medici or by Francesco Salviati, to be presented by him as a gift to Francis I of France. The erotic imagery would have appealed to the tastes prevalent in both the Medici and French courts at this time.
The attention to texture and wealth is consistent with Bronzino's aristocratic patronage. The figure of Venus can be likened to a precious object in a luxurious setting, desirable because of her unavailability.
Crowded into the claustrophobic foreground of the painting are several figures whose identities have been the subject of extensive scholarly debate. The themes of the painting appear to be lust, deceit, and jealousy. At times it has also been called A Triumph of Venus. Its meaning, however, remains elusive.
The two central figures are easily identified as Venus and Cupid. Both are nude, illuminated in a radiant white light. Cupid fondles his mother's bare breast and kisses her lips. They are being showered with rose petals by a boy, believed to represent Folly. Cupid appears to be about 14 years old--older than the cherubic Cupid who appears in other works and old enough to make love to his mother--while Venus is portrayed as a beautiful young woman in her early thirties. Venus' legs appear to be slightly spread to indicate she is ready to receive Cupid sexually. Venus is shown holding Cupid's arrow which perhaps implies that she is in control of their lovemaking.
The bearded, bald figure to the upper right of the scene is believed to be Time. He is preventing the figure on the right hand side (usually referred to as Oblivion due to the lack of substance to his form--notice the eyeless sockets and the mask-like head) from shielding the incestuous transgressions of Venus and the adolescent Cupid.
The identity of the remaining figures is unknown. The old woman rending her hair (see detail at left) has been called Jealousy—though some believe her to represent syphilis. The creature at the right hand side behind Folly, with a girl's face and grotesque body, extending a honeycomb with her left hand attached to her right arm, may represent Fraud. There is, however, no consensus on these identifications.
[edit] Modern usage
The painting, currently on display in London's National Gallery, was one of the inspirations of Mario Vargas Llosa's novel Elogio de la madrastra ("In Praise of Stepmother"), published in 1988. A detail from it is usually reproduced on the cover of editions of that work.
The foot of Cupid was used by Terry Gilliam in the opening animated titles of Monty Python's Flying Circus, usually crushing cartoons or the title of the show.
A portion of the image (Venus and Cupid) was used by Enigma in the cover for the single "Principles of Lust".
