Skip to main content
Benedetto Gennari II (Cento 1633-1715 Bologna) Venus embracing Cupid unframed image 1
Benedetto Gennari II (Cento 1633-1715 Bologna) Venus embracing Cupid unframed image 2
Lot 23TP

Benedetto Gennari II
(Cento 1633-1715 Bologna)
Venus embracing Cupid unframed

3 December 2025, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

£30,000 - £40,000

How to bidHow to buy

Ask about this lot

Benedetto Gennari II (Cento 1633-1715 Bologna)

Venus embracing Cupid
oil on canvas
186.8 x 135.2cm (73 9/16 x 53 1/4in).
unframed

Footnotes

Provenance
Possibly commissioned from the artist by John Sheffield (1647-1720), 3rd Earl of Mulgrave
Sale, Christie's, New York, 15 January 1993, lot 97
Private Collection, UK

Literature
B. Gennari, Raccolta di memorie di Benedetto Gennari, manuscript, M.S.B. 344 in the Bibliotheca Communale dell' Archiginnasio, Bologna, typescript 1953, ('Un quadro d'una Venera....a sedere sopra il letto con un panno turchino che le cuopere in atto d'abracciare e baciare un piccolo amoretto quale tiene in mano l'arco e la Saetta' (A painting of a Venus seated on a couch with a blue shawl which covers her, in the act of embracing and kissing a little cupid who holds a bow and arrow in his hand))
P. Bagni, Benedetto Gennari e la bottega del Guercino, Bologna, 1986, p. 157, no. 96

Possibly recorded in Gennari's list of works executed during his stay in London, the present painting was presumably commissioned by John Sheffield (1647-1721) whilst still Earl Mulgrave and before he was made 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, by Queen Anne, on 23 March 1703. Gennari notes that the painting was given to 'Milord Murgraf Gran Chiamberlano del Re Giacomo quando fu aclamatao Re.'

Gennari first moved to London in 1674 where he became court painter to King Charles II and then to his successor James II. Given his association with the Court of King James, Gennari had to leave England when James lost his throne in 1688. He initially followed the court to Saint-Germain-en-Laye but was back in Bologna by 1692.

Additional information