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Primary sourcePainting1627

Venus and Cupid (Sleeping Venus)

Artemisia Gentileschi · 1627

A nude Venus sleeping as Cupid fans her, painted by Artemisia Gentileschi for an elite collector in Rome.

Painted by Gentileschi herself, showing her adapting the female nude genre for elite Roman patrons.

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Painting of a reclining nude woman on a blue draped bed with her head tilted back and eyes closed, one hand resting on her stomach. A winged cupid holds a peacock-feather fan behind her. A landscape with a small temple hangs on the left, and red curtains frame the scene.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Venus and Cupid (Sleeping Venus), 1627. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

About this source

What it is

A painting of a sleeping Venus attended by Cupid, made around 1627 by Artemisia Gentileschi during her second period working in Rome. It is now held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Venus reclines on rich blue sheets, her son Cupid fanning her with peacock feathers. A window behind shows a moonlit temple landscape.

Why it matters

Female nudes for wealthy patrons were a genre mostly painted by men. This work shows Gentileschi taking on that market, using costly pigments to meet elite taste. Scholars note Venus's face resembles Gentileschi's own, and some see the painting balancing eroticism with a sense of divine protection for the goddess.

Look closer

  • What details suggest the painting was made for a wealthy patron?
  • How does the composition make the viewer feel like they are intruding on a private moment?
  • Why might an artist put her own features onto a mythological figure?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Artemisia Gentileschi on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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