View high resolution
Cupid Complaining to Venus
Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1525
The National Gallery, London
Venus Consoling Cupid Stung by a Bee
Benjamin West, 1802
The Hermitage Museum
“Benjamin West, born in America, settled in London at the age of 25 and went on to become court painter and President of the Royal Academy, making him the first American artist to gain an international reputation. He painted a number of works on the subject of Venus and Cupid between 1797 and 1814, basing himself on an ode by Anacreon, Wounded Cupid. Stung by a bee, Cupid complains to his mother, Venus, who embraces her child and at the same time smilingly chides him that his wound is nothing to that which he can cause with his arrows. Venus’s cold, Neoclassical profile contrasts with the pretty and somewhat effeminate Cupid.”
View high resolution
Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan
Alexandre Charles Guillemot, 1827
The Indianapolis Museum of Art
Statue of Venus with a Portrait Head, possibly Empress Lucilla
Roman, 166-169 AD
Staatliche Kustsammlung Dresden
Q
About scraps of books being used in the construction of other books: fairly common, actually. Finding bits of (expensive) parchment in the spine on book, as lining, or as essentially 'filler' for certain kinds of covers, was common: parchment costs money, and this scribe screwed up/who needs this book anymore? The practice carried over to the modern era: it's both practical and traditional. A great example can be found if you google "1200-year-old parchment found inside Auckland Library book"
from:nomina-nuda-tenemus
A
thanks!
Q
Ok... I know this probably isn't your area of expertise, but the binding recently broke on an antique book I have. When I inspected the spine, I noticed it was made using pages of another book. I was wondering if you have any idea if that was a common practice at some point in time, or if it is just an odd book. There's a post on my tumblr about it with photos.
from:my-sick-obsession
A
no idea, sorry!
Posted May 9, 2012 at 6:29am
A
Thanks! Native American artifacts are classified under so many different tribal names, it can be really confusing to someone who doesn’t know which is which!
