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The Art Institute of Chicago
Jupiter Rebuked by Venus
Description
Abraham Janssens, Peter Paul Rubens's major competitor in Antwerp in the 1610s, produced monumental paintings of mythological and secular subjects. Influenced by his five-year stay in Rome, he injected his paintings with recognizable quotations from ancient sculpture and Italian Renaissance painting. This scene of Venus reprimanding the visibly annoyed Jupiter on Mount Olympus is a direct reference to a composition by the Italian artist Raphael on the ceiling of the Villa Farnesina in Rome. Janssens, however, enhanced the power and dynamism of the figures by emphasizing their musculature and working on a larger scale.
Provenance
John Gage Predergast Vereker, 5th Viscount Gort (died 1902), Durham; offered for sale by his estate, Christie’s, London, 20 December 1902, lot 115, as Luca Giordano, bought in. Private collection, Ireland. Sold, Sotheby’s, London, 17 November 1982, no. 12, to Patrick Matthiesen, London; sold to the Art Institute, December 1986.
Dimensions
197.5 × 237.5 cm (77 3/4 × 93 1/2 in.)
Movement / Period
Accession No
64996
Official Citations
Curatorial Affinity Stream
Continuing the Universe of Abraham Janssens (Flemish, c. 1575-1632)
17th Century • Flanders • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries
Continuous Discovery