Venus Discovering the Death of Adonis

A nude woman strides through a wooded clearing, one arm extended toward a man lying face down on the grass in the foreground. Above, a winged cupid hovers near a large shell-shaped form among the trees. The drawing uses brown wash and white highlights over pen and chalk.

Look closer: A small winged cupid is perched among the trees near the shell-shaped form, half hidden by foliage.

Artist

Anonymous, Dutch, 17th century

Date

17th century

Medium

Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, heightened with white bodycolour, over a sketch in black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3988 × 2599 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Alain and Marie-Christine van den Broek d'Obrenan Gift, 2009