The Birth of Adonis
1723 - 1725. Oil on canvas.Room 087
These two paintings (P8501 and P8502) constitute an outstanding testimony to the early career of François Boucher, also represented in the Museo del Prado by Pan and Syrinx (P7066), a notable work from his mature period. The myth of the passionate love between Venus and Adonis was particularly favoured by Rococo painters, as the story allowed for the depiction of subtle amorous play set in Arcadian landscapes filled with lush vegetation, fountains and springs. Adonis was born from the incestuous relationship between Cinyras, King of Cyprus, and his daughter Myrrha who, bewitched by Venus, had fallen in love with her father. She disguised herself as a courtesan in order to seduce him. On discovering the ruse, the king tried to kill Myrrha, at which point she transformed into a tree, from which Adonis was born. The youthful Adonis’s remarkable beauty would later captivate Venus, a relationship that ended with his tragic death, the subject of the second painting.
