The Birth of Venus (Cabanel)
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| Naissance de Vénus ("The Birth of Venus") |
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| Alexandre Cabanel , 1863 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 130 × 225 cm |
| Musée d'Orsay |
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| Naissance de Vénus ("The Birth of Venus") |
|---|
| Alexandre Cabanel , 1875 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 106 × 182.6 cm |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art |
The Birth of Venus ( Naissance de Vénus ) is the name of several paintings by Alexandre Cabanel , the original of which was created in 1863 and the most famous copy by the artist himself in 1875. The original was the work that finally cemented the painter's fame. The picture shows the birth of the goddess Venus , who, according to a variant in Greek mythology, was born from the foam off the island of Cyprus .
The birth of Venus shows a female nude . The woman lies stretched out on the water with her head to the right, her upper body and head appear to be resting on a foam carpet. Contrary to all natural laws, the body seems to float above the water and does not sink a bit into the water. The lower left leg is lightly, the overlying right leg is drawn a little more towards the body and in this position partially covers the pubic area. While the abdomen is shown frontally to the viewer, the upper body falls back a little more, which lifts the chest area and emphasizes it in a special way. This also supports the posture of the arms; both arms are still extended above the head. While the left arm, like the left leg, is resting on the water and extended further, the right arm is raised and bent so that the forearm is resting on the head. The woman has closed her eyes and appears to be asleep. It lies on top of her hair, which goes down to her knees, but also over her left arm. While the female nude exudes great calm, even peace, five putti, also unclothed and with small wings, fly overhead . The two on the left blow into their shells, the two on the right hover over the woman. The middle putto has turned away from the naked woman, but is turning her head in her direction.
Cabanels The birth of Venus was sensationally recorded at the Paris Salon in 1863; it was also called the Venus Salon after the picture and other depictions of Venus . Napoleon III acquired the 130 cm x 225 cm on canvas -made oil painting for his private collection. Cabanel made several copies of it himself. The best known was commissioned by the US banker John Wolfe . With a size of 106 cm × 182.6 cm, it is a bit smaller than the original, but otherwise almost corresponds to the original in every detail. The original is now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris , the copy since 1893 as a gift from Wolfes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (inventory number 94.24.1; signature lower left: ALEX CABANEL). The picture met the taste that prevailed in France during the Second Empire : a mythological motif, carefully modeled, with a smoothly polished surface. Nevertheless, it was not spared from criticism. Émile Zola described Venus as "a lovely doll [... made of] white and pink almond paste [... that [drowns] in a river of milk". More modern works were rejected by the jury of the salon in the same year , despite similar subjects , which led to the exhibition of many of the rejected works in the Salon des Refusés . Two years later, an act with a similar motif, the Olympia by Édouard Manet , which was shown without a mythological corset, was laughed at and rejected during the salon, while Cabanel remained one of the most important academic artists for the next two decades. The success with The Birth of Venus also brought him an appointment as professor at the École des Beaux-Arts . Ultimately, with The Birth of Venus , Cabanel inspired other artists to paint nude studies, including Gustave Courbet , who created several realistic nude studies between 1864 and 1868, succeeding Cabanel, but also in contrast to him.
literature
- Kathry Calley Galitz: Alexandre Cabanel The Birth of Venus. In: Angela Schneider, Anke Daemgen, Gary Tinterow (eds.): The most beautiful French come from New York. French masterpieces of the 19th century. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Nicolai, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-89479-381-4 , pp. 100-101.
