Joachim Anthonisz. Wtewael

Exhibited by Galeria Bernat

Material copper

Dimensions 40.4 × 55.5 cm

Price Available upon inquiry

Status Vetted

About the Work

This remarkable copper is the largest and likely the final version of Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan painted by Joachim Wtewael, one of the leading masters of Dutch Mannerism. The artist returned repeatedly to this theme, producing smaller versions now in the Mauritshuis, The Hague (dated 1601), the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (c. 1606–10), and a version sold at Christie’s, London, in 2012 (dated 1610), as well as a small oval recorded in 1933.

Painted in 1611, the present work stands apart in both scale and conception. Its horizontal format and greater narrative restraint signal a shift in tone: the lovers’ intimacy is suggested rather than overtly displayed, and the mocking laughter of the gods softens into knowing smiles. This evolution anticipates Wtewael’s turn toward classicism around 1612 and may reflect the increasingly austere Calvinist climate of Utrecht, making the painting both a culmination of his erotic mythologies and a decisive artistic turning point.

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Provenance

Rafael Brufal Melgarejo, VIII Marqués de Lendínez;
by descent to his heirs until the late 20th century;
Private collection, Madrid (acquired from the above).

Literature

LOWENTHAL Anne W in European Paintings - From 1600-1917. Baroque, Rococo,
Romanticism, Realism, Futurism, London and New York, Matthiesen 2001.
MATTHIESEN P. “Joachim Wtewael” in An Art Odyssey 1500-1720. Classicism,
Mannerism, Caravaggism and Baroque, London, 2001, pp. 170-177.
CLIFTON James, HELMUS Liesbeth M. et al. Pleasure and Piety: Joachim
Wtewael, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 2015.