Giovanni Battista Paggi (Genoa 1554 – Genoa 1627)
Venus, Bacchus, and Ceres (Alternative title: 'Sine Cerere et Baccho, friget Venus')
Oil on canvas
103 x 78 cm - Framed 125 x 100 cm
Artwork details (click HERE)
'Sine Cerere et Baccho, friget Venus' is a Latin quote from a comedy by Terence (2nd century BC), which became a popular Dutch proverb and gave the title to our painting. It literally translates as 'Without Ceres and Bacchus, Love grows cold' and its simplest, naturally ironic level of meaning is that love in its carnal sense needs food and wine to thrive.
In art, it became a very popular theme especially between the 16th and 17th centuries in the Netherlands and in the circle of Mannerist artists at the court of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, as it offered the combination of a relatively intriguing classic reference and the opportunity to depict abundant nudity.
Regardless of the decorative character, this type of painting also had an erotic connotation, not unusual even in a culture dominated by the restrictions of the Counter-Reformation.
In our painting, the seductive Venus, hungry and thirsty, is surrounded by the god Bacchus, wrapped in vine shoots who passes her a bunch of grapes, and Ceres, with a crown of wheat and a cornucopia full of fruit; even Cupid, at her side, appears hungry, while trying to reach his mother's arm to grab the grapes greedily.
In particular, we are faced with a very famous iconographic invention by the painter Abraham Bloemart (c. 1600), which was already made popular at the time by an engraving by Jan Saenredam (1565-1607), then taken up by numerous artists such as J. Saenredam, Joachim von Sandrart, Bartholomäus Spranger
URL: https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/stampe/schede/MZ020-00017/
Also in Italy, especially in the northern part influenced by Flemish instances, the subject was particularly appreciated, as in our case by an author from the Genoese school of the early seventeenth century. Specifically, the painting is attributed to the Genoese Giovanni Battista Paggi (Genoa 1554 – Genoa 1627), who here took it up again with his typical refined style, well calibrated to the Baroque exuberance.
In our case we find a pleasant combination of the typically Genoese style, the Flemish one, absorbed by the rich community of other Nordic people active in Genoa, and the Tuscan one, assimilated during his stay in Florence which lasted over a decade. We also find a luminism of Caravaggio matrix that particularly highlights the theatricality of the scene.
Author of works on a predominantly religious theme, there is no shortage of splendid mythological creations in his collection (cf. Venus in Vulcan's Forge, Private Collection or Venus and Cupid Kissing D'Arte Banca Carige Collection).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The painting is sold complete with a pleasant frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.
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