Barberini Venus
Encyclopedia
The Barberini Venus, Jenkins
Venus or Weddell Venus, is a copy from the Aphrodite of Cnidus, along the lines of the Venus de Medici. Its torso is a Hadrianic copy in Parian marble
of the same type as the Venus de' Medici, with 18th century restorations.
was previously in the Barberini
collection, during which time its left leg and the support were added.) The Barberini Venus was purchased in 1763 by Gavin Hamilton
, a Scottish connoisseur in Rome who acted as guide to the British milordi. It was later bought by Thomas Jenkins
, the English antiquities dealer and banker to the English community established in Rome, and then from him in the spring of 1765 by William Weddell of Newby Hall
, Yorkshire, who was on the Grand Tour
. The undisclosed sum for which it changed hands this third time was reputedly the most ever paid for an antiquity in the eighteenth century.
A customs declaration, intended to speed its export from the papal dominions, details the extensive restorations it had undergone in Jenkins' care. The arms were restored while the sculpture belonged to Hamilton or Jenkins - Jenkins often employed Pietro Pacilli or Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
for such work - and it also received a head from a separate source
Weddell returned to Newby in the summer of 1765 and commissioned first the Yorkshire architect John Carr and then, in 1766, Robert Adam
to design a suitable gallery for the sculptures and other antiquities he had purchased in Rome. The result was a domed rotunda in which the Weddell Venus had a prominent niche
, flanked by rectangular galleries, decorated with refined Neoclassical plasterwork and forming a top-lit Neoclassical tribune
.
Thomas Jenkins (antiquary)
Thomas Jenkins was a British antiquary and minor painter who went to Rome accompanying the English landscape painter Richard Wilson about 1750 and remained behind, establishing himself in the city by serving as cicerone and sometime banker to the visiting British, becoming a dealer in Roman...
Venus or Weddell Venus, is a copy from the Aphrodite of Cnidus, along the lines of the Venus de Medici. Its torso is a Hadrianic copy in Parian marble
Parian marble
Parian marble is a fine-grained semitranslucent pure-white and entirely flawless marble quarried during the classical era on the Greek island of Paros in the Aegean Sea.It was highly prized by ancient Greeks for making sculptures...
of the same type as the Venus de' Medici, with 18th century restorations.
18th century
The sculpture of VenusVenus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
was previously in the Barberini
Barberini
The Barberini are a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII...
collection, during which time its left leg and the support were added.) The Barberini Venus was purchased in 1763 by Gavin Hamilton
Gavin Hamilton (artist)
Gavin Hamilton was a Scottish neoclassical history painterwho is more widely remembered for his hunts for antiquities in the neighborhood of Rome...
, a Scottish connoisseur in Rome who acted as guide to the British milordi. It was later bought by Thomas Jenkins
Thomas Jenkins (antiquary)
Thomas Jenkins was a British antiquary and minor painter who went to Rome accompanying the English landscape painter Richard Wilson about 1750 and remained behind, establishing himself in the city by serving as cicerone and sometime banker to the visiting British, becoming a dealer in Roman...
, the English antiquities dealer and banker to the English community established in Rome, and then from him in the spring of 1765 by William Weddell of Newby Hall
Newby Hall
Newby Hall is an historic mansion house and Grade I listed building situated on the banks of the River Ure at Skelton-on-Ure, near Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire, England.-History:...
, Yorkshire, who was on the Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
. The undisclosed sum for which it changed hands this third time was reputedly the most ever paid for an antiquity in the eighteenth century.
A customs declaration, intended to speed its export from the papal dominions, details the extensive restorations it had undergone in Jenkins' care. The arms were restored while the sculpture belonged to Hamilton or Jenkins - Jenkins often employed Pietro Pacilli or Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
Bartolomeo Cavaceppi was an Italian sculptor who worked in Rome, where he trained in the studio of the acclimatized Frenchman, Pierre-Étienne Monnot, and then in the workshop of Carlo Antonio Napolioni, a restorer of sculptures for Cardinal Alessandro Albani, who was to become a major patron of...
for such work - and it also received a head from a separate source
Weddell returned to Newby in the summer of 1765 and commissioned first the Yorkshire architect John Carr and then, in 1766, Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
to design a suitable gallery for the sculptures and other antiquities he had purchased in Rome. The result was a domed rotunda in which the Weddell Venus had a prominent niche
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
, flanked by rectangular galleries, decorated with refined Neoclassical plasterwork and forming a top-lit Neoclassical tribune
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
.