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The Dream of Adonis
(Baroque Europe )
A youthful inhabitant of the woodlands of mythical Arcadia in ancient Greece has dozed off after the exertions of the hunt. At his feet are his hunting dog and his catch, a dead boar. This lyrical piece is of a type inspired by the pastoral poetry of Greek and Roman antiquity revived during the Renaissance that described an idyllic existence in an idealized landscape inhabited by nymphs and shepherds. In "The Metamorphoses" by the Roman writer Ovid (43 BC-AD 17), Adonis was a handsome, mortal youth, renowned for his courage as a hunter of wild boar and beloved by Venus. Venus urged her lover not to hunt such a ferocious animal, but he dismissed her concerns, only to be killed by one shortly thereafter.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Italy, Genoa
(Place of Origin)
United Kingdom, England (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 3 9/16 × W: 1 5/8 × D: 2 1/16 in. (9.1 × 4.1 × 5.3 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
54.444