Venus, Bacchus and Ceres, Giovanni Battista Paggi (Genoa 1554 – Genoa 1627)

Giovanni Battista Paggi (Genoa 1554 – Genoa 1627)

Venus, Bacchus and Ceres (Parallel title: 'Sine Cerere et Baccho, friget Venus')

Oil painting on canvas
103 x 78 – In a 125 x 100 frame

Details of the work (click HERE)

'Sine Cerere et Baccho, friget Venus' is a Latin quotation from a play by Terence (2nd century BC), which became a popular Dutch proverb and gave our painting its title. It literally translates as 'Without Ceres and Bacchus, Love fades' and its simplest, of course ironic, level of meaning is that love in its carnal sense needs food and wine to flourish.

In art it became a very popular theme especially in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Netherlands and among the circle of Mannerist artists at the court of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, as it offered the combination of a relatively intriguing classical reference and the opportunity to depict abundant nudity.

Regardless of their decorative nature, this type of painting also had an erotic connotation, not unusual even in a culture dominated by the restrictions of the Counter-Reformation.

In our painting the seductive Venus, hungry and thirsty, is surrounded by the god Bacchus, wrapped in vine shoots who passes her a pick of grapes, and Ceres, with a crown of wheat and a cornucopia full of fruit; even Cupid, at her side, appears hungry, as he tries to reach his mother's arm to greedily grab the grapes.

In particular, we are faced with a very famous iconographic invention by the painter Abraham Bloemart (c. 1600), which was already made popular at the time by an engraving by Jan Saenredam (1565-1607), then taken up by numerous artists such as J. Saenredam, Joachim von Sandrart, Bartholomäus Spranger
URL: https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/stampe/schede/MZ020-00017/

Even in Italy, especially in the northern part influenced by Flemish influences, the subject was particularly appreciated, as in our case by the work of an author of the Genoese school of the early seventeenth century. Going into specifics, the painting bears an attribution to the Genoese Giovanni Battista Paggi (Genoa 1554 – Genoa 1627), who here reprised it with his typical refined style, well calibrated to the baroque exuberance.

In our case we find a pleasant combination of the typically Genoese manner, the Flemish one, absorbed by the rich community of other Nordics active in Genoa, and the Tuscan one, assimilated during his stay in Florence that lasted over a decade. We also find a Caravaggesque luminism that particularly highlights the theatricality of the scene.

Author of works with predominantly religious themes, his collection also includes splendid mythological creations (see Venus in Vulcan's Forge, Private collection or Venus and Cupid kissing, Banca Carige Art Collection).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is sold complete with a pleasant frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card.

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