Rokeby Venus
Venus in front of the mirror (Spanish La Venus del Espejo, also known as the Venus of Rokeby ) is a painting by Diego Velázquez from the years 1648 to 1651, which hangs in the National Gallery in London today. The color scale includes only three basic colors - red, white and gray.
Description
Velázquez depicts the goddess Venus, lying with his back to the viewer on a bed. She looks into a mirror held by Cupid. Her face, the mirror shows the viewer is slightly blurred and can not be seen in detail. The blur the facial features lets the viewer's gaze on the central motif rest - Venus ' body. He looks up, he sees her face in the mirror, looking at him directly - the voyeur is caught. The representation of Venus face was long the subject of discussion: technically rather sloppily painted, more indicated as performed in detail, it seems bad to the rest of the canvas to fit. It's a little bigger than it in, it should be correct ' perspective play, and really should the viewer can not see - Cupid holds the mirror so that it is not Venus face, but her shame would be reflected there.
It was assumed that Velázquez originally an - had painted clearer face, which had been painted over - recognizable. That is now refuted by radiographs of the National Gallery, there is only one coat of paint in the transom area. The geometrical position of the mirror was reproduced in an experiment to show that you can not see the face.
History
The image is first mentioned in records in 1651, when it belonged to Gaspar Méndez de Haro ( 1629-1687 ). It was intended as a counterpart to a Venetian painting depicting a nymph lying. She is facing the viewer, her couch is outdoors, a reversal of the Venus image. 1800 was the Venus in the possession of Manuel de Godoy, the first minister of Charles IV of Spain, over. He was in the position that it is the (probably picked by himself ) Goya works to The Naked Maja and The Clothed Maja hanging between.
1813 came the painting to England and was purchased by Representative John Morritt, of it at his country house Rokeby Hall in Yorkshire, which was Venus give her second name, hung up. In 1906 it had to be sold under the pressure of inheritance taxes. The National Gallery was trying to buy it with funds from their newly formed National Art Collections Fund (National Art Collection Fund). It was not immediately raise the requested sum of £ 45,000 through donations from the people, but King Edward VII donated 8,000 pounds, which triggered a further wave of donations of the English. The sum was reached soon, the king was the patron of the National Art Collections Fund.
Damage
On 10 March 1914, the militant suffragette ( suffragette ) Mary Richardson committed in the National Gallery to assassinate the painting, although a security guard had been placed for this one picture only. With a meat cleaver they smashed the glass and then brought the exposed image more cuts at. The reason for the attack was the day before was the arrest of Emmeline Pankhurst. In a statement to the Women's Social and Political Union ( WSPU ), she later said, " I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the Government for destroying Mrs. Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history " ( translation: " I 've been trying to destroy the image of the most beautiful woman in mythology, as a protest against the government, Mrs. Pankhurst has destroyed the most beautiful figure in modern history "). In an interview in 1951, she added: " [ I] did not like the way men visitors gaped at it all day long" ( translation: " [ I ] did not like the way male visitors draufglotzten all day "). The painting was restored and exhibited again.
More paintings
- The Surrender of Breda
- Las Meninas
- The Spinners
- The Lady with a Fan