Venus with a Mirror
A partially nude woman with pale, peachy skin sits to our left looking into a mirror held up by a nearly nude, winged child to our right in this vertical painting. The woman’s body is angled to our left but she looks across her body to our right. She holds her left hand to her chest, and her right hand grips the fur-lined edge of the scarlet-red, velvet fabric that drapes over that upper arm and around her hips. Her blond hair is coiled up in rows of pearls, and she has dark eyes, a straight nose, and her pale pink lips turn up in a subtle smile. A teardrop pearl earring hangs from the ear we can see, and she wears rings and gold bracelets. The child-like figure to the right stands on a gold-striped cushion facing away from us as he holds up the rectangular, black-framed mirror. He has small silver wings and a sash of golden yellow hangs from one shoulder around the opposite hip. A second child reaches from behind the mirror to hold up a ring of laurel leaves. A forest-green curtain is gathered in the upper left corner and the beige wall beyond falls into shadow to our right.
Details
- Palette
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- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- overall: 124.5 x 105.5 cm (49 x 41 9/16 in.) framed: 157.48 x 139.07 x 10.8 cm (62 x 54 3/4 x 4 1/4 in.)
- Department
- CIS-R
- Holding institution
- National Gallery of Art
- Image provider
- national-gallery-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Art Genome Taxonomy
10 tags
Subject Matter
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Nude Both · 100%
The catalog describes a partially nude woman, and the image clearly shows the central figure nude apart from drapery covering her lower body.
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Deities and Holy Figures Metadata · 99%
The title identifies the central mythological figure as Venus, a classical deity.
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Classical Mythology Metadata · 99%
The title places the subject within the narratives and figures of classical mythology.
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Reflections Visual · 100%
A rectangular mirror at the right visibly contains a reflection of the woman’s face and hair.
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Human Figure Visual · 100%
The composition contains a prominent central human figure and two smaller winged human figures.
Visual Qualities
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Asymmetrical Visual · 95%
The figures, mirror, curtain, and textiles are arranged in a strongly asymmetrical composition weighted toward the left and right edges around the central body.
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Dark Colors Visual · 97%
The palette is dominated by deep greens, browns, burgundy reds, and other shadowed dark tones, contrasted with pale flesh tones.
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Highly Ornamented Visual · 97%
Pearls, jewelry, gold ornaments, richly edged velvet, patterned textiles, and a laurel wreath create an extensively embellished visual surface.
Medium and Techniques
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Oil Painting Metadata · 100%
The National Gallery of Art identifies the medium as oil on canvas.
Time Periods
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16th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog dates the painting to approximately 1555, placing it in the sixteenth century.
Source & rights
Titian. Venus with a Mirror. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.