Minneapolis Institute of Art

Venus and Adonis

Nicolas Mignard (Mignard d'Avignon)

Date

c. 1650

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

In Greek myth, Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, adored the handsome mortal Adonis. She warned him about the dangers of hunting, but he ignored her and was killed by a wild boar. Here, as he sets out, spear in hand and dogs in tow, she pleads with him to stay. Heartbroken at his death, she transformed his blood into anemones, the fragile flowers visible in the shadows behind her. This painting is in the classicizing style popular in France during the 1600s—a monumental composition with idealized, half-dressed figures. A gifted colorist, Mignard used bold color combinations and a luminous palette to brilliant effect in Adonis’s drapery and the purple canopy above Cupid. Europe

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.