Venus
Series TitleThe Seven Planets
Artist
Heinrich Aldegrever
(German, 1502 - ca. 1561)
Date1533
MediumEngraving
DimensionsPlate: 3 13/16 × 2 1/2 inches (9.68 × 6.35 cm)
Credit LineGift of Milton McGreevy
Object numberF76-55/7
On View
Not on viewCollections
Exhibition HistoryAlbrecht Dürer, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, July 17, 2019-January 12, 2020, no cat.
The amorous couple in the background, as well as the presence of Cupid, identifies this figure as Venus, the goddess of love. Heinrich Aldegrever’s detailed engravings pay homage to Dürer, as does his monogram, which imitates the celebrated artist’s distinctive initials. Here, Aldegrever uses Dürer’s representation of Eve as a source for his representation of Venus. Her elegant pose, with her left leg supporting her weight, recalls Eve’s idealized stance.
Milton McGreevy (1903-1980), Shawnee Mission, KS, by December 28, 1976;
Given by Milton McGreevy to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1976.Adam Bartsch, Le Peintre-graveur, vol. 8 (Leipzig: J.A. Barth, 1866), no. 79, p. 389, as Les divinités qui président aux sept planètes: Venus.
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Hollstein, German Engravings, Etchings, and Woodcuts Ca. 1400-1700, vol. 1, Achen-Altdorfer (Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1954), no. 79.
George L. McKenna, Prints, 1460-1995 (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1996), 300, as Venus, from The Seven Planets.
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Heinrich Aldegrever
mid-16th century
33-147
