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 view

Collections

Prints

Terms

Exhibition History

Albrecht Dürer, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, July 17, 2019-January 12, 2020, no cat.

Gallery Label

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.

Provenance

With Zeitlin & Ver Brugge, Los Angeles, CA, by August 1960;

Purchased from Zeitlin & Ver Brugge by Milton McGreevy (1903-1980), Shawnee Mission, KS, August 22, 1960-December 28, 1976 [1];

His gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1976.

NOTES:

[1] McGreevy inventory cards, Nelson-Atkins Archives, MSS007 Milton McGreevy Papers.

Published References

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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