Venus and Mars Embracing as Vulcan Works at His Forge

Enea Vico|Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola)

1543 · Engraving · Drawings and Prints

The beautiful Venus was oddly matched to the lame blacksmith Vulcan (the Greek Hephaistos), a virtuosic metalworker who forged Cupid's potent arrows as well as the elaborate armor of the gods and heroes. When the smith learned of his wife's long-running love affair with Mars (the Greek Ares), he retaliated by fashioning a net of iron so fine that it could not be seen and laying it over a bed to trap the lovers in an embrace. This print seems to depict Vulcan crafting the invisible links, while Venus and Mars continue, oblivious to his presence.

Artist

Enea Vico|Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola)

Date

1543

Medium

Engraving

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949