#houseofgonzaga

[hadrianbagration]

”...une figure de femme accroupie de marbre, aucuns disent Venus delli Eli, autres Hélène de Troye, c'est la plus belle statue de tous estimée à 6 mille escus." Such were the words of French agent and marchante Daniel Nys to Lord Dorchester in 1613. The Mantuan House of Gonzaga acquired the piece, which awed Rubens to the point of adopting the crouching position and female voluptuousness in many of his works. It was precisely Rubens who, acting upon the will of King Charles I, purchased the statue for the Royal Collection. After the Cromwell hardship, it came into possession of Sir Peter Lely, from whom the Crown bought it back in 1682. Stolen from Whitehall, recovered, revered, it is on loan to the British Museum since 2005. As described by Nys, Venus is depicted while refreshing herself, startled, shyly and collectedly covering her nudity from unwanted prying eyes. Most likely an Antonine Roman copy of a lost Greek original of the Hellenistic period. #uk #london #art #statue #hellenisticart #romancopy #peterpaulrubens #lelyvenus #crouchingvenus #houseofgonzaga #danielnys #britishmuseum (at British Museum)