Venus and Cupid in a Decorative Frame with Grotesques, from the Judgment of Paris

Venus and Cupid in a Decorative Frame with Grotesques, from the Judgment of Paris

Adriaen Collaert

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate 4 from a series of six devoted to the figures in the mythological story of the Judgment of Paris. Vertical panel with Venus reaching out to Cupid, set in a landscape in a medallion at center. The nude figure of Venus holds up an apple in her right hand, while gesturing down to the figure of Cupid at her left. Surrounding the medallion, a dark background with grotesque ornament, including a vase flanked by outward-facing birds at top center.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Venus and Cupid in a Decorative Frame with Grotesques, from the Judgment of ParisVenus and Cupid in a Decorative Frame with Grotesques, from the Judgment of ParisVenus and Cupid in a Decorative Frame with Grotesques, from the Judgment of ParisVenus and Cupid in a Decorative Frame with Grotesques, from the Judgment of ParisVenus and Cupid in a Decorative Frame with Grotesques, from the Judgment of Paris

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.