Gilles Demarteau
French, 1722 - 1776After Francois Boucher
French, 1703 - 1770Venus Reclining on a Dolphin, ca. 1745
Not on view
Crayon engraving on paper
Dimensions11 3/8 × 16 7/8 in. (28.9 × 42.9 cm)
Gift of Dr. Jamile Trueba Lawand, 2018.210
Gilles Demarteau was an etcher, engraver, and publisher who resided in Paris, France. His artwork is inspired by Rococo painters like François Boucher. During his a very active career, Demarteau produced over 560 prints.
In this work, Venus, the goddess of love, reclines on a billowy cloth. She rests her right arm on the head of a stylized dolphin, looking similar to a catfish. The dolphin alludes to the goddess's birth from the sea and is derived from a popular Greek statue of Aphrodite created by the sculptor Praxiteles. As the goddess of love, Venus personifies female beauty; throughout the ages, poets, painters and sculptors have dedicated themselves to imagining her physical perfections in word and image. In the 18th century collectors eagerly acquired artwork depicting the goddess to demonstrate their refined and educated status as art connoisseurs.
