Luca Giordano, Italian, 1634-1705
Title: Venus, Mars and the Forge of Vulcan
Date: c.1660
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
131 x 158 cm
Credit Line: Bequeathed, Sir Denis Mahon, through the British Fund for the National Gallery of Ireland, 2015
Object Number: NGI.4647
DescriptionVenus, seated on a bed, with Cupid at her breast, is about to be seduced by Mars. He puts a finger to his lips urging her silence and she pulls across a curtain to conceal them. On the left, totally unaware of the affair, Venus’ husband Vulcan and his assistants are forging Jupiter’s thunderbolts. The heat of the forge is almost a metaphor for the main action. The Venetian-inspired handling is superbly fluid. Stylistically, Giordano has combined motifs reminiscent of da Cortona, with the luminous chromatic effects of Rubens, in a display of technical brilliance by this young artist.
Giordano was the most prominent Neapolitan painter of the second half of the seventeenth century, his artistic output so prolific that during his life he gained the soubriquet,‘Luca fa presto’ (Luca paints quickly), on account of the speed with which he used to finish his paintings. He trained with Jusepe Ribera from 1650, but whilst in Rome he was attracted by the work of artists such as Pietro da Cortona. His conversion to a more colourful palette was completed by visiting Venice. He worked across Italy and spent a decade at the Spanish court before returning to Naples.
March 2016
Giordano was the most prominent Neapolitan painter of the second half of the seventeenth century, his artistic output so prolific that during his life he gained the soubriquet,‘Luca fa presto’ (Luca paints quickly), on account of the speed with which he used to finish his paintings. He trained with Jusepe Ribera from 1650, but whilst in Rome he was attracted by the work of artists such as Pietro da Cortona. His conversion to a more colourful palette was completed by visiting Venice. He worked across Italy and spent a decade at the Spanish court before returning to Naples.
March 2016
Label TextTwo lovers, Venus and Mars, whisper on a bed accompanied by four putti who look nervous. The cause of their concern is Venus’s husband Vulcan, who is working nearby in the forge, unaware of the affair. In the sky, the gods Ixion and Tityus are being punished for their transgressions; Ixion is tied to a burning wheel and Tityus is tormented by a liver eating vulture. Giordano’s inspiration for this dramatic scene came from classical literary sources, including Ovid’s epic poem Metamorphoses. The scene can be read as a warning against becoming enslaved to sensual pleasures.