(active circa 1590)

A young lady and her son as Venus and Cupid
indistinctly signed and dated at lower right, on the quiver: (H)? S(?) 159…
oil on canvas, 84 x 113 cm, framed

Despite the technical ability of the present painting it has not, as yet, been possible to attribute it to a specific artist. The artist was almost certainly one of the international court painters of the 16th century. The present painting can be assigned to the so-called Second School of Fontainebleau. There are indications that this may be a stylized portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrée, King Henry IV´s mistress, and her son, César de Vendôme. Besides a stylistic closeness to the works of French court artists and physiognomic similarities, this assumption is corroborated by the fact that César de Vendôme was legitimated by the king in 1595, when the boy was two years old, and therefore the fragments of the date might be related to this event and the painting can probably be interpreted as an allusion to it in mythological guise.

The monogram could be interpreted as ‘HS’ – a monogram that appears in several paintings and etchings of the late 16th century and which has led to organizing certain groups of works under the monogrammist JS and the monogrammist HS respectively. Both Hans Strohmeyer and Aegidius Sadeler have tentatively been identified as the monogrammist HS. Indeed the present painting shows a resemblance in terms of composition and style to two depictions of Venus assigned to this group: Venus and Cupid (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest; erroneously attributed to Hans Rottenhammer, see fig. 1) and an etching bearing the monogram JS. The landscape in the present painting betrays the influence of Paul Bril hence a date of execution in the second half of the 1590s seems plausible.

Additional image
Venus and Amor, Budapest, Szepmüvészeti Museum, Inv. 57.1

Despite the technical ability of the present painting it has not, as yet, been possible to attribute it to a specific artist. The artist was almost certainly one of the international court painters of the 16th century. The present painting can be assigned to the so-called Second School of Fontainebleau. There are indications that this may be a stylized portraits of Gabrielle d’Estrée, King Henry IV´s mistress, and her son, César de Vendôme. Besides a stylistic closeness to the works of French court artists and physiognomic similarities, this assumption is corroborated by the fact that César de Vendôme was legitimated by the king in 1595, when the boy was two years old, and therefore the fragments of the date might be related to this event and the painting can probably be interpreted as an allusion to it in mythological guise.

If the monogram were interpreted as ‘HS’ – a monogram that appears in several paintings and etchings of the late 16th century and which has led to organizing certain groups of works under the monogrammist JS and the monogrammist HS respectively. Both Hans Strohmeyer and Aegidius Sadeler have tentatively been identified as the monogrammist HS. Indeed the present painting shows a resemblance in terms of composition and style to two depictions of Venus assigned to this group: Venus and Cupid (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest; erroneously attributed to Hans Rottenhammer, see fig. 1) and an etching bearing the monogram JS. The landscape in the present painting betrays the influence of Paul Bril hence a date of execution in the second half of the 1590s seems plausible.

Additional image
Venus and Amor, Budapest, Szepmüvészeti Museum, Inv. 57.1