# Venus, Mars, and Vulcan [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [TINTORETTO, Jacopo]() - Date: 1551-1600 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 135 x 198 cm ## Commentary Venus, Mars, and Vulcan c. 1551 Oil on canvas, 135 x 198 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich Following various examples in fresco painting and graphic prints, Tintoretto presents a subject from classical mythology as a risque burlesque or farce, a story leaving a bitter aftertaste. Informed of the love affair between his wife Venus and Mars, the god of war, Vulcan, the smith of the gods, limps over from his forge, insultingly examining Venus to see whether, as he fears, adultery has actually been committed. Mars hides under a table - in vain, for Venus's little lapdog will give him away by barking. Meanwhile the god of love, Amor or Cupid, who is not entirely blameless himself, pretends to be asleep. ## Related artworks - [A Philosopher \(detail\)]() - [A Philosopher]() - [Allegory of Faith]() - [Allegory of Fortune \(Felicità\)]() - [Allegory of Generosity]() - [Allegory of Goodness]() - [Allegory of Happiness]() - [Allegory of the Scuola della Carità]() - [Allegory of the Scuola della Misericordia]() - [Allegory of the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista]() - [Allegory of the Scuola di San Marco]() - [Allegory of the Scuola di San Teodoro]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()