Beskrivning: Se även beskrivning i den engelska versionen

Catalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 27: 

Technical notes: The painting’s original support
consists of two strips of a densely woven, mediumweight,
plain weave, single-threaded fabric, sewn together
vertically with a seam at centre right (the left piece
measures c. 103.4 cm in width and the right piece c. 92.1
cm). The original fabric support has been lined and the
tacking edges cropped on all sides, with the fabric
mounted on a non-original stretcher at the tacking edges
of the lining fabric. Faint cusping is visible along the top
and bottom edges only, suggesting that the painting was
once somewhat taller.

The thick preparatory layers, which completely hide
the texture of the fabric support, consist of a smooth,
light buff-coloured ground, followed by an opaque,
medium grey imprimatura. Generally, paint was applied
thinly in opaque layers, except for the strong impastos
used to help model the flesh tones, especially of Venus
and Cupid. The same thin colour is applied in the whites
of Adonis’ loincloth and Venus’ blouse, in the sparkling
highlights in her tear-filled eyes, on the jewelled strap
across her left shoulder, on the hunting horn and spear in
the left and right foreground and in the yellowish skies
towards the horizon on the left. The cool grey imprimatura
is allowed to show through in the more thinly
painted areas of the faces and bodies, where it helps to
define the shading of the flesh tones, especially noticeable
in Adonis’ ashen face and body. Venus’ robe was
executed in an opaque warm red paint, over a semi-transparent
brownish underpaint, with the admixture of lead
white in the lighter areas and a translucent dark red lake
glaze in the depths of the folds. The figure of Adonis was
painted before that of Venus, his limp left arm, literally,
bisecting her left arm and leg, which were executed in
two parts. All the figures were painted before the landscape
setting, which frequently overlaps their contours.

The painting is in good condition. The paint, which
has been flattened during the lining process, is heavily
abraded and thin in many areas. A long repaired zigzag
left thigh). Coarse, partly discoloured retouching covers
extensive losses of the ground and paint layers along the
edges, especially the upper left edge (in the sky), at the
upper and lower left corners and scattered through both
figures and landscape. There is damage from impact at
the upper right. A series of retouched short horizontal
cracks in the ground and paint layers may have resulted
from rolling of the fabric support. The painting underwent
conservation treatment in 1926 and 2010.

Provenance: Coll. Bodissoni 1757; purchased by Gustav
III (as Crown Prince) 1758; Gustav III 1761, no. 5;
Gustav III 1792, no. 33; KM 1795, no. 52; KM 1816, no.
697.

Exhibited: Stockholm 2010, no. 48.

Bibliography: Von Breda 1791, p. 168 (as Anthony van
Dyck); Sander II, pp. 79, 104, no. 33 (as Anthony van
Dyck); NM Cat. 1867, p. 28; Göthe 1887, p. 78 (as workshop
of or manner of Anthony van Dyck); Göthe 1893,
pp. 95–96 (as workshop of Anthony van Dyck); Granberg
1931, p. 18, no. 33; Badouin 1984, pp. 130–134; NM Cat.
1958, p. 68; Laskin and Pentazzi 1987, p. 306; Larsen
1988, II, p. 425, no. A40; NM Cat. 1990, p. 125; Heinrich
2003, no. A5d, p. 151–157 (as a workshop replica). 
The myth of Venus and Adonis is recounted by Ovid
in the Metamorphoses, (X, 708–739). The goddess of
love, who was passionately in love with the handsome
young hunter Adonis, was afraid that he would meet
with an accident. One day while out hunting Adonis
was slain by a wild boar. When Venus learnt of this she
rushed to the spot but arrived too late. This is the
tragic moment depicted in the Nationalmuseum’s
painting. Venus is supporting Adonis’ dead body,
which is lying on the ground. Leaning on one arm, she
directs an agonized glance at the heavens. On the left
her son, Amor, is visible, scarcely able to hold back his
tears. On the left can also be seen Adonis’ bow and
hunting horn and the dead dog. Adonis’ right arm
rests on a leopard skin.

The theme, which resembl The theme, which resembles a pietà,
fits in well with the Baroque appetite for what was both dramatic
and full of emotion. This portrayal comes very close to
Van Dyck’s work and in 1761 the painting was attributed
to the studio of Van Dyck when it formed part of
Gustav III’s collection. The original of this composition
is, however, one of the earliest signed works by
Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert. This painting,
belonging to the Stiftung Preussischer Schlösser und
Gärten, Berlin, is today exhibited at the Schloss
Oranien burg.1

Badouin assumed that the original version derived
from the cultural inheritance of the Oranges and that
it was originally commissioned by the Stadtholder
Friedrich Hendrik from Willeboirts Bosschaert in
1642. While the work as a whole is stamped with the
style of Van Dyck, Adonis’ body is reminiscent of
Rubens’ Descent from the Cross.2

The Berlin painting was believed by Badouin and
others to have served as a model for a painting in the
National Gallery Ottawa and a number of
other replicas.3 Baudouin published an oil sketch in
the collection of Guy Flokner, Brussels, as the original
modello for the Berlin painting.4 After a thorough
comparison of the Berlin and Ottawa paintings,
J. Douglas Stewart finds the Ottawa version to be the
better one with numerous pentimenti.5

Larsen (1988) considered the Nationalmuseum
painting to be a copy of the versions mentioned above
in Berlin and Ottawa. However, according to Heinrich
2003, it should be regarded as a workshop variant
of the signed composition in Oranienburg. It differs
from this painting in a few details such as the hunting
dog at the lower left but corresponds exactly with the
small modello in Brussels.6 Two fragments of a
preparatory sketch showing the body of Adonis and
the upper part of Venus are in a private collection in
Paris.7

Whether Willeboirts Bosschaert originally derived
his composition from Van Dyck is unknown. Several
lost compositions of this subject ascribed to Van Dyck
are known from literary sources. According to Bellori,
Van Dyck painted a Venus and Adonis for Charles I.
Heinrich mentions that Bosschaert’s composition
could have been inspired by a picture by Maarten de
Vos in the Musée de Château in Blois.8
A picture with the same motif in Göteborg Museum
of Art (135 x 195) is a copy of the Nationalmuseum
painting from the early 19th century, earlier attributed
to the Swedish painter Carl Fredric von Breda.9

GCB

1 138.3 x 199 cm, no. GK I 5172 (Badouin 1984b), earlier exhibited at the
Schloss Grünewald.
2 See Judson 2000, nos. 43–45.
3 One in the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest (159 x 208.5 cm), two versions
known from photos in the Rijksbureau vor Kunsthistorische Documentatie,
The Hague (119 x 183 cm) and (neg, no. 33108, 234 x 206 cm).
4 Oil on canvas, 32.5 x 48 cm. Today in a priv. Coll., Brussels. See Badouin
1984, p. 132, fig. 1 and Vlieghe in Cat. Exp. Cologne-Vienna 1992–1993,
no. 51.1.
5 Stewart 2001. For the Ottawa painting see also Laskin and Pentazzi 1987.
6 See Heinrich 2003, no. A5b, fig. 12.
7 Heinrich 2003, no. A5a, fig. 11.
8 Heinrich 2001, pp. 262–263.
9 Göteborg Museum of Art, as unknown painter early 19th century, 135
x195 cm, GKM 5. See Heinrich 2003 no. A5Ke .
[End]

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Foto: Erik Cornelius / Nationalmuseum 2010