Venus entrusting Cupid to Time

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo|Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

1758–80 · Etching; second state of three (Succi) · Drawings and Prints

This composition celebrates the birth of a child, whom Venus consigns to Saturn in his role as Father Time. The Graces sprinkle roses, and the doves that draw Venus' chariot kiss overhead. The child was once identified as Cupid, yet his lack of wings and the presence beneath him of a winged infant with a quiver play down that interpretation. On the other hand, the winged child may be delivering the sheaf of arrows—which seems too heavy for him—to the newborn. Other suggestions for the baby's identity are Venus' son Aeneas—an appropriate subject if the room contained stories from Virgil's Aeneid—or a son from the noble family that commissioned the work.

Artist

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo|Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Date

1758–80

Medium

Etching; second state of three (Succi)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1957