Venus Reclining in a Landscape
The Venetian artist Giulio Campagnola introduced the "dot manner," an engraving technique by which shading is created with dots and flicks produced with the point of the burin. This innovation allowed for a much greater range of tone and subtler gradations from dark to light. The effect imitated sfumato, a painting technique for creating soft atmospheric effects practiced by Venetian artists, such as Giorgione, at the time. The influence of and perhaps even the engraver’s collaboration with Giorgione is reflected in the extraordinary beauty and refinement of this rare early impression of Ve...
Details
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Medium
- engraving
- Dimensions
- platemark: height 0.119 m, width 0.183 m; sheet: height 0.119 m, width 0.183 m
- Department
- Prints
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland
Art Genome Taxonomy
10 tags
Subject Matter
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Nude Visual · 99%
A nude reclining figure dominates the foreground of the composition.
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Landscapes Visual · 97%
The figure is set within an outdoor landscape containing trees, vegetation, open ground, a path, and distant architecture.
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Classical Mythology Metadata · 90%
The title identifies the figure as Venus, a deity from classical mythology.
Visual Qualities
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Highly Detailed Visual · 92%
The engraving contains extensive fine detail in the figure, drapery, foliage, ground, and distant buildings.
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Black and White Visual · 96%
The image is rendered in a monochromatic range of dark and light tones rather than color.
Medium and Techniques
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Prints Metadata · 99%
The Cleveland Museum of Art classifies the work as a print and lists its medium as engraving.
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Etching/Engraving Metadata · 99%
The catalog identifies the technique as engraving and describes Campagnola’s burin-produced dots and flicks.
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Sfumato Both · 94%
The catalog describes the dot manner as imitating sfumato, and the image visibly uses fine marks to create soft transitions between light and shadow.
Time Periods
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16th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The work is dated c. 1508–9, placing it in the early 16th century.
Geographic Regions
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Italian Art Metadata · 99%
The artist is identified as Italian and the place of origin is listed as Italy.
Source & rights
Giulio Campagnola (Italian, 1482–1515). Venus Reclining in a Landscape. Cleveland Museum of Art.