Portrait of a lady as Venus with Cupid by Hans Rottenhammer
The composition is known through two versions: one, dating from 1620, is in the Dresden Old Masters Gallery and was first mentioned in the gallery's catalogue in 1833 (oil on canvas, 60.5 x 73.5 cm, inv. 289, signed and dated: HR 1620); the other, dating from 1622, comes from a private collection in France (oil on canvas, 73.7 x 90.7 cm, Dorotheum in Vienna, October 13, 2010, lot 647, signed and dated in the center right: HR.F 1622).
The facial features of the woman depicted as Venus, as well as the author's copy, indicate that this is the portrait of a wealthy noblewoman. A wry self-portrait in the guise of Bacchus appears in the artist's Feast of the gods with marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne, a collaboration with Jan Brueghel the Elder, painted in Venice in 1602 (Christie's Paris, June 21, 2012, lot 15, signed and dated: Gio. Rottenhammer 1602 F. in Venetia).
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Photos 1-3: © Marcin Latka
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