# Venus and Cupid at Vulcan's Forge [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [PALMA GIOVANE]() - Date: 1551-1600 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 115 x 167 cm ## Commentary Venus and Cupid at Vulcan's Forge c. 1610 Oil on canvas, 115 x 167 cm Staatliche Museen, Kassel In the Aeneid, the Roman poet Virgil tells how Venus, the goddess of love, visits Vulcan's forge to obtain for her son Aeneas the invincible arms that only this god could make. In the foreground we see the recumbent Venus in a tender embrace with Cupid, hinting at the night of love that would be granted Vulcan in recompense. In the background, the blacksmith god and his labourers work on the weapons. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 4 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/17\_cent/gasparini\_cupid.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Francesco Gasparini: The Meddlesome Cupid, aria</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [Allegory of the Victory over the League of Cambrai \(detail\)]() - [Amusements of the Prodigal Son]() - [Apollo and Marsyas \(1\)]() - [Apollo and Marsyas \(2\)]() - [Apostles at the Virgin's Tomb]() - [David and Achimelech]() - [Doge Francesco Venier Presents the Subject Cities to Venice]() - [Doge Pietro Loredan Beseeching the Virgin]() - [Martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria]() - [Paolo Veronese]() - [Pasquale Cicogna Hearing Mass Celebrated in the Oratory of the Crociferi \(detail\)]() - [Pasquale Cicogna Hearing Mass Celebrated in the Oratory of the Crociferi]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()