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Jan Saenredam

Venus Grows Cold without Ceres and Bacchus, (Love Grows Cold without Food and Wine)

Description

Maker

Jan Saenredam (Dutch, 1565-1607), designer
After Abraham Bloemaert (Dutch, ca. 1564-1651)
Jacob Razet, publisher

Title

Venus Grows Cold without Ceres and Bacchus, (Love Grows Cold without Food and Wine)

Year

ca. 1600

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink

Supports

Dimensions

Sheet: 26.8 x 20.4 cm (10 9/16 x 8 1/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Marks: Shield, Briquet 2291

Identification

State

state ii

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Mary B. Jackson Fund

Object Number

2006.92.3

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650

Renaissance engravings are objects of exquisite beauty and incomparable intricacy that are composed entirely of lines. Artists began using this intaglio process in Europe as early as 1430. This captivating catalogue focuses on the height of the medium, from 1480 to 1650, when engravers made dramatic and rapid visual changes to engraving technique as they responded to the demands of reproducing artworks in other media. The Brilliant Line follows these visual transformations and offers new insight into the special inventiveness and technical virtuosity of Renaissance and Baroque (Early Modern) engravers. The three essays discuss how engraving’s restrictive materials and the physical process of engraving informed its visual language; the context for the spread of particular engraving styles throughout Europe; and the interests, knowledge, and skills that Renaissance viewers applied when viewing and comparing engravings by style or school.

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line
Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Sep 18, 2009 – Jan 03, 2010

Label copy

One of Hendrick Goltzius’s best students, Jan Saenredam’s mastery lay in his evenly weighted burin hand and lightness of touch, which produced silvery delicacy and astonishing light effects.

Drawing upon a Roman farce by Terence explained by the 16th-century humanist Erasmus, this image illustrates the idea that food and drink, the gifts of Ceres and Bacchus, nourish desire, as embodied by Venus. Saenredam united the three gods with reverberating reflections across the image and with a circular composition in which their limbs overlap. Cupid, god of lust, incites the desire, as he reaches to pluck one of Venus’s grapes.

Related Publications

Related Publications

  • Books

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650

Renaissance engravings are objects of exquisite beauty and incomparable intricacy that are composed entirely of lines. Artists began using this intaglio process in Europe as early as 1430. This captivating catalogue focuses on the height of the medium, from 1480 to 1650, when engravers made dramatic and rapid visual changes to engraving technique as they responded to the demands of reproducing artworks in other media. The Brilliant Line follows these visual transformations and offers new insight into the special inventiveness and technical virtuosity of Renaissance and Baroque (Early Modern) engravers. The three essays discuss how engraving’s restrictive materials and the physical process of engraving informed its visual language; the context for the spread of particular engraving styles throughout Europe; and the interests, knowledge, and skills that Renaissance viewers applied when viewing and comparing engravings by style or school.

Use & Feedback

Image use

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Jan Saenredam (Dutch, 1565-1607), designer
After Abraham Bloemaert (Dutch, ca. 1564-1651)
Jacob Razet, publisher
Venus Grows Cold without Ceres and Bacchus, (Love Grows Cold without Food and Wine), ca. 1600
Engraving
Sheet: 26.8 x 20.4 cm (10 9/16 x 8 1/16 inches)
Mary B. Jackson Fund 2006.92.3

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