Praha, p. Wallenstein, garden, Venus and Adonis

Title:

Praha, p. Wallenstein, garden, Venus and Adonis

Publisher:

von Wallenstein, Albrecht

Identifier:

olympos_cz:PB9845200000158791

Subject:

catched hind, dog, wreath, tree stump, Venus, and Adonis

Type:

socha

Description:

Bronz statue: Adonis (naked) strides with a catched hind on his shoulders, by his legs a dog. He bends down to Venus. Naked Venus sits on a tree stump, she raises her right hand to Adonis, in her left she holds a wreath. In Wallenstein's time an elaborate Neptun fountain stood in front of Sala Terrena, which was complemented by four bronze sculptural groups on marble bases which stood between the fountain and Sala Terrena. Laocoon and the Wrestlers were probably standing side by side, the former symbolizing punished impiety and the latter defeated revolt. To the left of the group with Laocoon, in which resistance was condemned, the group with Venus and Adonis could have stood, in which the advantages of forethoughtful submission were celebrated. The group of Venus and Adonis would form a couple with the group of Bacchus and the little Satyr celebrating the blessings of the epoch of peace. The playful fight of Bachus and Satyr would form a contrasting pair with the deadly fight of Wrestlers at the opposite end of the row., Fučíková, Čepička 2007#, 443-444 (Eliška Fučíková), and Over a hundred-year period around 1600, Venus and Adonis was a very fashionable theme in painting and we often find it in the Prague Court art of Rudolf II. Two moments were most often illustrated from the myth, Venus trying to stop Adonis departing for the fateful boar hunt and Venus lamenting his death. The representation of Adonis' departure was noticeably stereotyped; we see again and again a sitting Venus trying to embrace Adonis who walks away, in this way Adrian de Vries represented the couple in 1621 (Bückenburg, today Berlin). The Prague statue seemingly conforms to this type, because Venus is also represented on the ground and she raises her hands towards the walking Adonis. But Adonis is not departing, he is returning from a successful hunt with game over his shoulder. Adonis' triumphal return was highlighted by the wreath in Venus' raised hand, which occupies a central position in the group. In Wallenstein's time the standard allegorical reading of the Adonis myth was centred on the hero's refusal of divine counsel, his departure from Venus and its tragic consequence (Mander 1602, 88v). This makes Adonis a perfect counterpart to Laocoon, who also did not obey and had to pay for it. But Prague's Adonis is safely returning from a hunt with a stag on his shoulders and Venus greets him with a wreath, because he did exactly what he had advised him. In depictions of Adonis in 16th and 17th century we do not find other examples of Venus with a wreath or the motif of hero's return from hunt with a small animal on his shoulders. It seems as if Adriaen de Vries reversed the traditional iconographical type, but retained its political message. The tamed Adonis obeys his divine master and is justly rewarded, or, when we translate it into contemporary political terminology, the obstinate rebel is turned into a dutiful subject. It is possible to imagine the statues of Laocoon and the Wrestlers standing side by side in the Wallenstein garden, the former symbolizing punished impiety and the latter defeated revolt. Next to the group with Laocoon, in which resistance was condemned, the group with Venus and Adonis could have stood, in which the advantages of forethoughtful submission were celebrated, in Czech lands very topical theme after the defeat of Czech estates in 1620.

Rights:

autorská práva www.olympos.cz

Harvested from:

Pamatky

Metadata only:

false

Date:

1624