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Venus Pudica
Sculptor: Marchesi, Pompeo
White marble, carved in the round. Reclining, partially draped figure of Venus.
History note: Carved for Duca Pompeo Litta Visconti Arese, and situated in one of the grottos of the Nymphaeum of the Villa Lainate, near Milan reputedly from a palazzo in Rome; acquired in England by Gallery Heim, London and exhibited in their Autumn Exhibition, 1972, London, Paintings and Sculpture 1770-1830.
Purchased with the Cunliffe, Perceval, and Webb Funds, aided by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam, the Pilgrim Trust and a Grant-in-aid from the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Height: 109 cm
Width: 157.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Bought (1974) by Gallery Heim
19th Century
Production date:
AD 1829
: dated
Marchesi was the leading Neoclassical sculptor in Milan during the first half of the nineteenth century, whose output was influenced by the work of Canova, under whom he had studied between 1804 and 1809. He established a large and prolific studio, and was Professor of Sculpture at Milan’s fine art academy between 1838 and 1852.
This partially draped Venus reclining on luxurious mattresses and pillows draws its inspiration from the great Italian Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova’s famous marble portrait of Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix, carved in 1808. Marchesi’s homage was commissioned by Duke Pompeo Litta Visconti Arese (1785–1835) and by 1840, it had been installed in one of the garden grottoes of his spectacular residence in Lainate (near Milan), the Villa Borromeo Visconti Litta, together with Marchesi’s Penitent Magdalene (M.7-1974). The composition proved popular and Marchesi produced variants such as that dated 1838, which shows Venus with Cupid (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna); and that dated 1855, which shows Venus entirely naked and lying on a net (Galleria d’arte moderna, Milan).
Carving : White marble, carved
Accession number: M.6-1974
Primary reference Number: 31226
External ID: CAM_CCF_M_6_1974
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Venus Pudica" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/31226 Accessed: 2024-12-26 13:40:46
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/31226
|title=Venus Pudica
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-26 13:40:46|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-31226
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<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Venus Pudica</figcaption>
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