(Sant’Angelo in Vado 1679–1758 Rome)
Venus and Mars with Cupid,
oil on canvas, 97.5 x 125 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna, 1964-65;
Private collection, Austria

Literature:
R. Roli, Pittura Bolognese 1650–1800 dal Cignani ai Gandolfi, Bologna 1977, p. 103, ill. no. 252 (as Giuseppe Marchesi, il Sansone)

The present painting is registered in the Fototeca Zeri under no. 70144 (as Donato Creti - attribution suggested by M. Gregori, with alternative attributions to Jacopo Amigoni and Giovan Gioseffo dal Sole). It was also attributed to Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole by Herman Voss during the 1960s and then to Giuseppe Marchesi by Renato Roli (see literature).

We are grateful to Daniele Benati for suggesting the present attribution on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph. Benati considers it to be one of the few known secular works by Francesco Mancini.

The composition depicts Mars in golden armour, partially covered by a red mantle as he draws back a curtain to reveal Venus. She reclines sensually on a bed, holding, in her left hand, the golden apple which alludes to her victory in the mythological contest, which pivoted on the judgement of Paris, to establish which of the divinities was the most beautiful. The young Cupid is shown alongside Mars, proudly displaying one of his arrows of love.

The soft and elegant brushstrokes and the warm, brilliant colours of the painting are strongly reminiscent of Bolognese classicism and these characteristics derive from Francesco Mancini´s study with the Bolognese painter Carlo Cignani in Forlì, where he was introduced to the great masters of the Emilian tradition.

Following an early period in Emilia Romagna, Mancini was active mainly in central Italy, primarily in Umbria and Rome and its surrounding territories, where he received numerous commissions, in particular from the church. In Rome, he came into contact with the work of his compatriots Carlo Maratta and Pompeo Battoni whose influences led to maturity in his own pictorial style with a fusion of classical and baroque influences. The prestige Mancini enjoyed is documented by his involvement in several Roman institutions: he became a member of the Accademia di Francia a Roma in 1732, of the Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon in 1743 and of the Accademia di San Luca between 1750 and 1751.