Venus Nursing Cupid | Narodna galerija

Prisco Bagni has pointed out that this motif is copied from a fresco by Guercino which is now in the city gallery in Cento, but which was once in the Venus Room of the Pannini house. Venus and Cupid are faithful copies of Guercino’s figures, but the landscape in the background has been changed. It is reminiscent of Guercino’s work in the years 1623–25. This painting most certainly originated in Guercino’s workshop. In view of the style and the time of origin Prisco Bagni attributes it to Guercino’s pupil and collaborator Lorenzo Gennari.

Artist Lorenzo Gennari

Technique oil, canvas

Dimensions 64 x 161 cm

Inventory number NG S 1929, National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana

Preservation: This picture was cut out of a larger composition.
Restored: 1981–1982, Kemal Selmanović; the edges of the painting were unfolded.
Provenance: The actor Anton Cerar Danilo bought the painting before World War II, apparently in Venice; his daughter Mira Neffat Danilova bequeathed it to the Narodna galerija (Probate 27 Nov. 1979).
Exhibitions: 1993, Ljubljana, No. 12.
Lit: Bagni 1986, pp. 222, 354, Fig. 117; Salerno 1988, p. 106, Fig. 117; Zeri and Rozman 1993, pp. 133–134, Cat. and Fig. No. 12.
(Painting is for the time being no longer exhibited.)