Lot 1011 Dα

The pose of Venus is reminiscent of Michelangelo's recumbent female allegory of night on the sarcophagus of Giuliano de' Medici in San Lorenzo in Florence. Symbolic depictions, such as allegories of love, were highly popular motifs in Italy at this time. The Renaissance saw the creation of many variations or copies of such allegories, often incorporated into cycles illustrating the love poetry of Dante, Petrarch or Boccaccio. Michelangelo's nudes were hugely inspirational for many Florentine artists, including Vasari, Bronzino, Tosini and del Brina, and they made numerous copies of his works.
Prof. Federico Zeri attributed the present work to Tosini upon first-hand examination. The work possesses certain satirical, caricaturesque qualities, evident in the strange mask held aloft by the putto and the lurid colours. A further version of this image is housed in the Galleria Colonna in Rome. It differs from the present work in that Cupid there does not hold the mask before his face, which here perhaps represents deception and disappointment in love. The work's atmosphere is one of surreal and grotesque allure.