Venus Anadyomene (Venus Rising from the Sea)

Titian (circa 1485/90 - 1576)

National Gallery of Scotland

circa 1520-25

Aphrodite Anadyomene is depicted wringing her hair as she wades ashore through the shallows, with a diminuitive scallop shell floating beside her. According to legend, she was born fully grown from the foam and blown ashore on a scallop shell, landing near Paphos in Cyprus. The great painter of antiquity, Apelles had painted a similar work, and Titian was deliberately inviting comparison between them by choosing to paint this subject.

• Medium: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 75.8 x 57.6cm
• Grant Paid: £500,000 ( Total: £11,414,178; Tax Remission)
• ArtFunded in: 2003
• Vendor: Trustees of the Ellesmere 1939 Settlement

Provenance

Perhaps Raffaele Raggio, 16th century, Genoa; ... ; Queen Christina of Sweden, until 1689; Cardinal Dezio Azzolino; Marchese Pompeo Azzolino; Prince livio Odescalchi until 1713; Prince Baldassare Odescalchi-Erba; Regent Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, 1721; Louis-Philippe-Joseph, Duc d'Orleans; Viscount Walchiers, Brussels, 1791; Francois de Laborde de Mereville; Bryan's Gallery, London, 1798; 3rd Duke of Bridgewater; by descent to Duke of Sutherland. On loan to the National Gallery of Scotland since 1945.

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