• First half of the 16th century,
• oil on canvas
• 136x121 cm

Paris Bordone (Treviso, 7 May 1500 - Venice, 19 February 1571), a disciple of Titian, also developed under the influence of Giogione and P. Vecchio. He mostly painted mythological and allegorical motifs, and occasionally also portraits. Bordone was a master of technique and a good colourist. He lived and worked in Italy, France and Germany. A gift from the Dubrovnik Bishopric to the Republic, this painting was first brought to the Rector's Palace in 1694, having been brought to Dubrovnik from the Venetian Art Gallery Raspi together with 16 other paintings. These paintings represented a partial repayment of the debt the owners of the said gallery, the Raspi brothers, owed to the Dubrovnik Bishop B. Orsat Giorgio. Upon the Bishop's death, the debt was collected by the Cathedral. Bordone's painting has ever since been located in the Rector's palace and is regarded a work of art of the highest order. The painting is dominated by the sensual figures of Venus and Adonis, who are sitting in an embrace under the trees in a forest, leaning against each other. The background is filled with thick foliage and a tree that is painted dark brown. The dark background accentuates the light incarnadine of the figures, thus stressing the strong proportions of the bodies. The half-naked Venus with bare bosom and arms is pictured in a sitting posture holding her attributes, bow and arrow, in her right hand. The paintings is pervaded by warm reddish brown tones. The proportions are strong and the paint laid on thickly. The painting represents an authors replica (Prof.Dr. Kruno Prijatelj managed to prove that this was an original). Very similar paintings can be found in London (National Gallery), Vienna, Salzburg, and Florence (Uffizi Gallery), with slight variations existing throughout Italy. Around 1930, the painting was restored in Paris and on this occasion a transparent blouse was painted reaching just below Venus' breasts.

Copyright MDC & Carnet
design NOVENA, Zagreb