Venus+and+Mars;+Sandro+Botticelli,+1483


 * One is Not Exactly Like the Other**



"An Allegory" Photo Courtesy of the National Gallery http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/being-botticelli
 * Creator || Botticelli, Sandro, 1444 or 5-1510 ||
 * Title || Venus and Mars ||
 * Date || c.1483 ||
 * Material || tempera on wood ||
 * Measurements || 27 1/2x68" ||
 * Subject || Painting--Italy--15th C. A.D ||
 * ARTstor Collection || ARTstor Slide Gallery ||
 * Source || Data from: University of California, San Diego ||

**HISTORY:** In 1874, the National Gallery acquired two paintings by Botticelli depicting Venus from the Alexander Barker collection. Art critic J.W. Comyns Carr wrote in the ‘Art Journal’ that these two pieces “represent the classical side of Botticelli’s genius, of which side the National Gallery had previously no example" (Ruvoldt, 2004).

Today it is now accepted that one of the two paintings is not indeed a Botticelli, but has now been catalogued in the National Gallery as “Follower of Sandro Botticelli”. The painting itself is not a Botticelli, but the pigments used are those of 15th-century quality. The binding medium was found to be egg tempera, which was widely used at the time (Law, 2005).

The final straw was in the investigation of the underdrawing. It appeared to have been copied from many different cartoons. There were no hatch marks showing skill of a master painter. The underdrawings even prove this painting was not an exact copy of an original, but an original concept, although there is a closely related painting in the Louvre also by Botticelli (Nethersole, 2010).


 * SOURCES: **

Law, J.E. (2005). //Victorian and edwardian responses to the italian renaissance//. London: Ashgate Publishing. //Masters in art: boticelli//. (1900). Boston: Bates and Guild Company.

Nethersole, S. (2010, June 30). //Being botticelli//. Retrieved from []

Ruvoldt, M. (2004). //The italian renaissance imagery of inspiration: metaphors of sex, sleep, and dreams//. London: Cambridge University Press.