The J. Paul Getty Museum

Statue of Venus (the Mazarin Venus)

Object Details

Title:

Statue of Venus (the Mazarin Venus)

Artist/Maker:

Unknown

Culture:

Roman

Places:

Roman Empire (Place Created)

Rome, Italy (Place Found)

Date:

2nd century A.D.

Medium:

Marble

Object Number:

54.AA.11

Dimensions:

184 cm (72 7/16 in.)

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Object Description

Venus, the goddess of love, stands nude, grasping a piece of cloth around her hips. The dolphin at her feet supports the figure and alludes to the goddess's birth from the sea. This depiction of Venus ultimately derived from an extremely popular Greek statue created by the sculptor Praxiteles about 350 B.C. Indeed Praxiteles's statue was so popular that, beginning around 100 B.C., many artists created variations on his theme of the naked Venus.

This statue is a Roman reproduction of one of those Hellenistic variants. It was discovered in Rome around 1510, where it contributed to the Renaissance revival of the Classical tradition. Scholars once believed that this statue was owned by Cardinal Mazarin, advisor to Louis XIV, king of France. Although this is unlikely, the statue is still known to many as the Mazarin Venus.

During its long history, the statue has been heavily damaged. The breasts, as well as parts of the cloth, arms, and dolphin, are restored, and the head may belong to another ancient statue. Marks on the back of the statue have been interpreted as gunshot wounds suffered during the French Revolution, although this story may be based more in romance than in fact.

Provenance
Provenance
about 1510

Found: Rome, Italy (see Hind 1948 for the engraving by Giovanni Antonia da Brescia (1509 or 1510) that likely depicts the statue with the inscription "ROME NOVITER REPERTVM")

by 1853 - 1866

Jean Antoine Théodore Gudin, French, 1802 - 1880 (La Chartreuse, Folie-Beaujon, Paris, France) [sold, Pillet and Escribe, Paris, March 22, 1866, lot 42]
Source: Balleydier, Alphonse. "Un visite au chateau Beaujon en 1853". La Mode : revue des modes, galerie de moeurs, album des salons (June 25, 1853), pp. 99-100

in or after 1866 - 1901

Sir Francis Cook, 1st viscount of Montserrat, English, 1817 - 1901 (Doughty House, Surrey, England), by inheritance to his son, Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 1901.

1901 - 1920

Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd viscount of Montserrat, English, 1844 - 1920 (Doughty House, Surrey, England), by inheritance to his son, Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 1920.

1920 - 1939

Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd viscount of Montserrat, English, 1868 - 1939 (Doughty House, Surrey, England), by inheritance to his son, Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 1939.

1939 - probably 1947

Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th viscount of Monserrat, English, 1907 - 1978 (Doughty House, Surrey, England), sold to Spink & Son, Ltd., probably 1947.

probably 1947 - about 1948

Spink & Son, Ltd. (London, England), sold to a French private collection, about 1948.

about 1948 -

Private Collection (France)

- 1954

Nicolas Koutoulakis, 1910 - 1996 (Paris, France and Geneva, Switzerland), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1954.

Provenance Remarks: Although historically associated with the collection of Cardinal Jules Mazarin (1602-1661), the earliest known publication of this provenance is in 1863, and it has not yet been corroborated by Mazarin's inventories (Chapus 1863). The statue was placed into a historic base with the inscription “Venus de Mazarin” by the late 19th century, but the date of the base and its source are unknown, and it was removed in the 20th century. More probable is the acquisition of the Venus by Nicolas Beaujon, who built the Chartreuse and the Folie-Beaujon gardens in the mid-18th century; the statue is published as having been part of the Beaujon collection as early as 1853 in an article that is also the first to describe the damage on the statue's reverse as the result of cannon fire sustained in during the French Revolution in 1793. Although the Venus has not yet been confirmed as part of Beaujon's inventories, the 19th-century description of the statue as the "Venus de Folie-Beaujon" and "Venus de Beaujon" suggest the continued contemporary identification of the statue with Beaujon and successive owners of the Chartreuse and Folie-Beaujon gardens. [November 2021]

Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Beyond Beauty: Antiquities as Evidence (December 16, 1997 to January 17, 1999)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), December 16, 1997 to January 17, 1999
Ancient Art from the Permanent Collection (March 16, 1999 to May 23, 2004)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), March 16, 1999 to May 23, 2004
Classical Connections: The Enduring Influence of Greek and Roman Art (December 16, 2003 to November 9, 2008)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), December 16, 2003 to November 9, 2008
Collector's Choice: J. Paul Getty and His Antiquities (November 18, 2009 to February 8, 2010)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa (Malibu), November 18, 2009 to February 8, 2010
Rubens: Picturing Antiquity (November 10, 2021 to January 24, 2022)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa (Malibu), November 10, 2021 to January 24, 2022
Bibliography
Bibliography

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