- Lely Venus
The Lely Venus is an instance of the
Crouching Venus type ofHellenistic marble statue. It is ofAntonine date.It was originally in the Gonzaga collection in
Mantua , where it was inventoried in the Gonzaga collection in 1627 [Published by Carlo d'Arco, "Delle Arti e degli artefici di Mantova", II (1857), pp 168-71, noted by A. H. Scott-Elliot, "The Statues from Mantua in the Collection of King Charles I" "The Burlington Magazine" 101 No. 675 (June 1959, pp. 214, 218-227) p 219f, note 18.] Whilst there it was seen by the artist Rubens, who stayed with the Gonzaga family whilst on the continent on diplomatic and art-collecting duties forCharles I of England . It was an important influence on hisvoluptuous style of painting thefemale nude , so much so that it appeared at the National Gallery's "Rubens: A Master in the Making" exhibition from 26 October 2005 to 15 January 2006 [ [http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/rubens/default.htm Exhibition link] and [http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/media/pdf/AnnualReport2006.pdf Image of it in the exhibition (Royal Collections report, page 4)] .]It was soon purchased from the Gonzagas, in 1627-28, for
Charles I of England , [Alessandro Luzio, "La Galleria dei Gonzaga venduta all'Inghilterra nel 1627-28" (1913), noted by Scott-Elliot 1959:220 note 19.] It was remarked in England in 1631 as "the finest statue of all" and valued at 6000 ecus. ["une figure de femme accroupie de marbre, aucuns disent Venus delli Eli, autres Hélène de Troye, c'est la plus belle statue de tous estimée à 6 mille escus": (a marble figure of a crouching woman, called by some the Venus ofElis , by othersHelen of Troy , it is the finest statue of all, and is valued at 6000 Ecus) in the letter of the French agent Daniel Nys to Lord Dorchester, 13 June 1631; Scott-Elliot 1959:220; Haskell and Penny 1981:321] . On the dispersal of Charles's art collections during the Commonwealth, it came into the possession of the painter and connoisseur SirPeter Lely , from whom it derives its name. [In the Commonwealth Sale Inventory it is lot 10, ₤600, with the annotation "bought by Lilly the Painter with Severall other his Mats. rarities". ( [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0007-6287%28195906%29101%3A675%3C214%3ATSFMIT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6&size=LARGE A. H. Scott-Elliot, The Statues from Mantua in the Collection of King Charles I, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 101, No. 675 (Jun., 1959), pp. 214, 218-227] )] Two years after Lely's death it was re-acquired from his collection for theRoyal Collection . It was housed in thePalace of Whitehall at the time of the fire which destroyed that palace onJanuary 4 ,1698 , and was rescued from the flames. [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-9114(195504)59%3A2%3C129%3ANOANEO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X Cornelius C. Vermeule, Notes on a New Edition of Michaelis: Ancient Marbles in Great Britain] , American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Apr., 1955), pp. 129-150] Since 2005 it has been on long-term loan to British Museum, following treatment by their conservators, and is currently on display in gallery 23. [ [http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/m/marble_statue_of_a_naked_aphro.aspx BM page] ]Notes
* [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-3079(195712)39%3A4%3C251%3ATLSCOM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1 Paul F. Norton, The Lost Sleeping Cupid of Michelangelo] , The Art Bulletin, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Dec., 1957), pp. 251-257
*Anne H. van Buren, Erica Cruikshank Dodd, Ellen N. Davis, Clifford M. Brown, Letters to the Editor, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 57, No. 3 (Sep., 1975), pp. 466-467
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