Lovers (Venus and Adonis ?) in a landscape

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The lovers’ entwined legs (and the presence of Cupid) imply amorous attachment, while their arms—hers restraining, his gesticulating—denote conflict, as Venus entreats Adonis not to go after the wild boar that will be the cause of his death. But Adonis, hound at his side, is on the point of willful departure. The sophisticated atmospherism, relayed in myriad browns and grays, shows awareness of Alessandro Masnago’s work (see 38.150.33).

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art