Venus and Adonis

Venus and Adonis

1735
Artist
Antonio Enríquez
Work Locations: Guadalajara, Mexico
Active Years: 1722-1787
Country
Mexico
Object
painting
Medium
Oil paint on canvas.
Accession Number
1987.191
Credit Line
Gift of Horace and Jane Day

Antonio Enríquez, Venus and Adonis, 1735. Oil paint on canvas; 21¾ × 30 in. Gift of Horace and Jane Day, 1987.191.

Dimensions
image height: 21.75 in, 55.2450 cm; image width: 30 in, 76.2000 cm; frame height: 28 in, 71.1200 cm; frame width: 36 in, 91.4400 cm
Inscription
Signed at left edge. Only visible when painting is unframed.
Department
Mayer Center, Latin American Art
Collection
Latin American Art
This object is currently on view

Commissioned by a wealthy Spaniard or Creole living in Mexico, this canvas and it's mate (1987.192) would have likely been hung on the wall in a private residence. The classical subject matter illustrates stories of Venus, the goddess of love. As the intellectual ideas of the Enlightenment spread from Europe to its colonies in the 1700s there was an increased interest in secular themes such as the classics, science, and portraiture. 
     These works signed by Mexican artist Antonio Enríquez were painted after European engravings which were transported to the Americas and used by artists for sources of composition and iconography. The original paintings (1621-1633), from which the engravings were made, are by the Italian artist Franceso Albani and now hang in the Louvre in Paris. The Enríquez family of artists lived and worked in Mexico in the mid 1700s. The Denver Art Museum has three paintings by Antonio Enríquez (1987.191, 1987.192, 2015.552) and two others (2013.303, 2013.349) by his presumed brother, Nicolas Enríquez.
--Julie Wilson Frick and Donna Pierce, 2015

Known Provenance
Gifted 4 November 1987 by Horace and Jane Day to the Denver Art Museum. Provenance research is on-going at the Denver Art Museum. Please e-mail provenance@denverartmuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.
Exhibition History
  • Painting a New World: Mexican Art and Life 1521 - 1821, Denver Art Museum, April 3 - July 25, 2004.

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