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Hendrick de Clerck (Flemish, c. 1570-1629)
Venus and Adonis, c. 1600
Oil on canvas, 63 x 57-3/4 inches
Museum Purchase

The ancient Roman writer Ovid recounts how Venus, the goddess of love, became enamored of the handsome, young Adonis. She tried to dissuade him from hunting the fiercest animals of the forest, but Adonis ignored her advice and was killed by a wild boar.

Venus uses all her powers to keep Adonis at her side. Her long fingers stroke his hair while she looks languidly into his face. Her sinuous body leans against his shoulder as shimmering drapery slips across her legs. Nearly every line in De Clerck's composition sways in sensual rhythms. But Cupid has fallen asleep on the job, and Adonis' resolve to break away is conveyed by his distracted gaze and the straight shaft of his spear, balanced on its sharp metal tip.

As a Flemish painter devoted to Italian art, De Clerck created his own elegant Mannerist style: muscular figures with elongated proportions twist into artificial, spiraling postures. De Clerck's Flemish Mannerism is richly decorative: Adonis' laced greaves, beribboned tunic, and pink armor, all polished like porcelain, stand out against a detailed "tapestry" of dense foliage.

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