painting (oil): ["Venus and Cupid"]

"Signed bottom right just above the corner "Chev. V. Werff fec. 1709" - in black and slightly flourished italics." [Letter from Isherwood Kay in Registry] A small painting with a female filling the right-hand side of the picture, we have a rear view of her body, her face is in profile and she has elaborately braided hair. She sits in a rocky cove on a blue cloth, on the ground near her feet is a bow, an arrow and a sheath of arrows. Above and to the left flies a winged Cupid in his baby form. The landscape in the background includes a tree almost falling from a cliff, horizontal with roots exposed n the right foreground Venus, naked and with her hair elegantly coiffed, sits on a rock draped with blue silk. She turns away from the viewer with her left arm raised and her face in profile. On the ground to her left is a quiver of arrows and a bow with a broken string. Cupid hovers before her and gestures upwards with his right hand. An outcrop of rock with tree branches on the right partly hides the rolling waves of the sea which are revealed beneath a cloudy sky on the left. The oak branch seen above Venus' head refers to the origins of her Greek counterpart, Aphrodite. According to Homer, Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus and Dione, goddess of the oak tree. However, the seascape in the distance is a reference to another legend (told by the Greek poet Hesiod) of Venus's birth from the sea and her journey to shore on a scallop shell. The broken bow and Venus's agitated gesture suggest that NCM 1933-245 is a representation of the punishment of Cupid. It seems likely that the frame, which features scallop and oak leaf mouldings, is original. Virag 16/12/2004, Between 1984 and 1985, a research assistant, Dr. Brendan Cassidy, was employed by Nottingham Castle Museum to research and write a catalogue of the foreign oil paintings in their collection. The catalogue never materialised, but drafts and notes relating to Cassidy's research can be found in the Artist Files and in the Archive at the museum. All references to Cassidy relate to these documents. On the front: There are some marks and some minor paint loss on the right-hand edge. On the reverse: 1. Label at bottom of frame (handwritten in black ink): The Rt Hon The Earl of Yarborough Venus and Cupid By A. Vander Werf 25/4/88 2. Label in centre of panel (handwritten in blue ink): Signed and dated 1709 From the Worsley Collection Exhibited at the British Institution 1849, no.31. See Dr. Waagen's art Treasures in Great Britain, Sup, p.69 Christie's July 12, 1929 3. NCM accession number 4. Label, centre left (handwritten): Given to Stella Locker Lampson February 1931 g locker Lampson 5. There is some freehand writing, possibly a name, written in black ink on the back of the panel near the centre, which is partly obscured by 2. 6. Christie's stencil@ 375 EZ 7. Label, upper left: 887 No. 43 Nov 3rd The Rt Hon The Earl of Yarborough Venus and Cupid vanderwerf Virag 16/12/2004, "This picture has a very good provenance. It came from the collection of Sir Richard Worsley, Bart., (1751-1805), whose niece and heiress, Henrietta Anna Maria Charlotte Simpson inherited at his death his estates in the Isle of Wight and conveyed them to the Yarborough family on her marriage with the First Earl in 1806. The picture was exhibited at the British Institution in 1849 (no. 31) lent by the Earl of Yarborough and was seen in the Yarborough collection at Arlington Street, St. Jame's, by Waagen in 857. It was sold out of Arlington Street at Christie's on July 12th, 1929, (lot 125), and was bought by Vokins, a dealer, for 110 guineas." [Letter in Registry by H. Isherwood Kay, National Gallery, 11/8/1933] "On the back are the following inscriptions placed as per the following, and the wording spaced as laid out below, 1887 No. 43. Nov. 3. The Rt Hon. The Earl of Yarborough. Venus & Cupid Vander Werff The following label still white and the ink still bluish Given to Stella Locker Lampson G. Locker Lampson. Label and ink same as above, also the writing perhaps.- A Vander Werff Signed and dated, 1709. From the Worsley Coll. Exhib Brit Inst 1849. No. 31. See Dr. Waagens "Art Treasures". In Gt Britain "Supp. P.69. Christies July 12. 1929. Again on a very old brown toned label with old ink occurs. The Rt. Hon, The Earl of Yarborough. Venus & Cupid by A. Vander Werff. 25/4/88."[Letter in Registry by H. Isherwood Kay, National Gallery, 23/8/33]