Venus Healing Aeneas
Merry Joseph Blondel (French, 1781–1853)
c. 1820
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front.
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About this work
In this study for a larger painting of a scene from Virgil’s Aeneid, Merry Joseph Blondel depicted the epic poem’s protagonist, Aeneas, wounded and having dragged himself away from the battlefield. Hidden in a divine mist, the goddess Venus—Aeneas’s mother—and the river god Numicus come to his rescue. Numicus holds the hero as Venus administers a healing balm. The following lines from A. S. Kline’s translation of the poem describe the scene:
This Venus brought, her face veiled in dark mist,
this, with its hidden curative powers, she steeped
in river water, poured into a glittering basin, and sprinkled
there healing ambrosial juice and fragrant panacea.
- Artist
- Merry Joseph Blondel (French, 1781–1853)
- Date
- c. 1820
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Origin
- France
- Style
- 19th century
- Collection
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Reference
- 2015.412 · Art Institute of Chicago