Venus with the Signs of Libra and Taurus

Pietro Facchetti (After: Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio); Luigi da Pace; Possibly retouched by: Peter Paul Rubens)

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Pietro Facchetti (After: Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio); Luigi da Pace; Possibly retouched by: Peter Paul Rubens)

Venus with the Signs of Libra and Taurus

1602. Oil on canvas.
Room 040

The planet Venus, accompanied by a torch-bearing child, represents the morning star. Behind them, a fragment of the Zodiac presents the signs of Libra and Taurus. At the top, a winged figure rests his extended arms on the ring.

This painting and its companions (P306 to P312) are copies of cartoons for the mosaics at the Chigi Chapel in the Roman church of Santa Maria del Popolo. Those cartoons were made by Raphael and the mosaics, by Alvise della Pace in 1516.

The paintings are from the royal collections and were brought to Spain by Rubens in 1603 as gifts from the Duke of Mantua to the Duke of Lerma. They were part of the decoration of Philip IV´s Salón Planetario (Planetary Hall) at the Buen Retiro Palace.

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Copias de las decoraciones de la Capilla Chigi, Santa María del Popolo, Roma. Ciclo de los Signos del Zodiaco

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Venus with the Signs of Libra and Taurus

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Inventory number: P000310
Author: Pietro Facchetti (After: Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio); Luigi da Pace) (Possibly retouched by: Peter Paul Rubens)
Title: Venus with the Signs of Libra and Taurus
Date: 1602
Technique: Oil
Support: Canvas
Dimension: Height: 174 cm; Width: 130 cm
Series: Copias de las decoraciones de la Capilla Chigi, Santa María del Popolo, Roma. Ciclo de los Signos del Zodiaco
Provenance: Given by the Duke of Mantua, Vincenzo I Gonzaga, to Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma, 1603; Apartment of the 1st Duke of Lerma in the Royal Palace, Valladolid, 1603; Royal Collection (Palace of the Ribera, Valladolid, 1607; Palace of Buen Retiro, Madrid, 1635; Buen Retiro, 1794, no. 822)
Entry date: 1839

Bibliography +

Inventario Palacio Nuevo. 1794, Madrid, 1794.

Madrazo, Pedro de, Viaje artístico de tres siglos por las colecciones de cuadro, Daniel Cortezo y Cª, Barcelona, 1884, pp. 102.

Martín González, Juan José, Exposicion Conmemorativa del IV Centenario del Nacimiento de Rubens, Dirección General del Patrimonio, Valladolid, 1977.

Barghahn, Barbara Von, Philip IV and the Golden House of the Buen Retiro in the Tradition of Caesar, Garland PublishingInc, Nueva York. Londres, 1986, pp. 209/ lám.813.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado. Inventario general de pinturas (I) La Colección Real, Museo del Prado, Espasa Calpe, Madrid, 1990, pp. nº16.

Ruiz Manero, José María, Pintura italiana del siglo XVI en España, Fundación Universitaria Española, Madrid, 1996, pp. 130.

Wood, Jeremy, Rubens. Copies and Adaptations from Renaissance and Later Artists. Raphael and his School, Corpus Rubenianum, Londres, 2010, pp. 167-194 (181-182, nº 10).

Simal López, Mercedes, La presencia de copias en el palacio del Buen Retiro durante el reinado de Felipe IV, Actas del Congreso internacional Las copias de obras maestras de la pintura en las colecciones de los Austrias y el Museo del Prado. Junio 2017, Madrid, 2021, pp. 158-167 (159-160).

Other inventories +

Inv. Testamentaría Carlos III, Buen Retiro, 1794. Núm. 822.
Otra [pintura], del Planeta Venus, con el Signo de Libra y Tauro, de dos varas de alto, y vara y media de ancho...250

Museo Real de Pinturas a la muerte de Fernando VII, 1834. Núm. 822.
DEPÓSITO GRANDE / ESCUELA ITALIANA [...] Depósito de entresuelo [...] Ocho cientos veinte y dos. El Planeta Venus con el signo de Libra y Tauro / / Lº / 160

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1854-1858. Núm. 16.

Inv. Real Museo, 1857. Núm. 16.
Copia de Rafael. / 16. Venus, con los signos libra y toro. / Alto 6 pies, 3 pulg; ancho 4 pies, 8 pulg.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1872-1907. Núm. 378.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1910. Núm. 310.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1942-1996. Núm. 310.