Study for 'Venus Verticordia'

Copyright

Work in the public domain
Image: Courtauld

Maker

(Artists)
1828-1882

Title

Study for 'Venus Verticordia'

Date of Production

(circa) 1863 - 1864

Medium

graphite on wove paper

Dimensions

Height: 50.6 cm
Width: 36.9 cm

Object Number

D.1952.RW.4296

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Location

Not currently on display

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Keywords

Label Text

This drawing is one of several studies which Rossetti made in preparation for ‘Venus Verticordia’ (Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth) – one of the first of his many luxurious paintings of sensuous women inspired by Venetian High Renaissance art. The model was supposedly a cook whom he had encountered on the street. With fine pencil lines Rossetti focuses on her curling tresses of hair and striking features. The apple and arrow, combining both biblical and classical symbolism, hint at the complex meaning of this ‘Venus who turns hearts’.

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Collector's mark: Removed from a former mount or support: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Inscription: Verso: centre, graphite: "18 [this scribbled over with "19"] x 14".and "28 1/2".

Provenance

the artist's estate sale, Christie's (London), 12 May 1883; A. (Arthur?) Appleby; purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 2 December 1949; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), 22 December 1949 (£27); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/02/2011-15/05/2011

Literature

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, 2011
cat. no. 5
ill. on p. 53

Surtees, Virginia, The paintings and drawings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882): a catalogue raisonne, London, 1971

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 42

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