Venus Offering Diana a Choice Between Cupid and the Young Adonis

Belongs to Exhibition

Northern European Selections from Dürer to Rembrandt

In the middle of a large forest, populated by trees and boulders, a woman holds the hands of two children as she leads them towards a group of female hunters.

Herman van Swanevelt (Dutch)
1654
Etching on paper
1111.1.5444

Venus leads the small Cupid and Adonis towards Diana and her tribe of female hunting companions in the middle of a forest in this image. According to mythology, Venus falls in love with Adonis after she is shot with Cupid’s arrow while seeing him hunting in the forest.