Venus Mourning the Death of Adonis, c. 1626-28
Oil on canvas
233 x 190 cm
Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest
One day while out hunting Adonis was slain by a wild boar, an accident Venus has always dreaded. Hearing his dying groans as she flew overhead in her chariot, she came down to aid him, but was too late. In the place where the earth was stained with Adonis’ blood, anemones sprouted.
In Greek mythology, Adonis was a mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite (Venus) and of Persephone.
One day, Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip and died in Aphrodite’s arms as she wept. His blood mingled with her tears and became the anemone flower. Aphrodite declared the Adonia festival commemorating his tragic death, which was celebrated by women every year in midsummer. During this festival, Greek women would plant “gardens of Adonis”, small pots containing fast-growing plants, which they would set on top of their houses in the hot sun. The plants would sprout, but soon wither and die. Then the women would mourn the death of Adonis, tearing their clothes and beating their breasts in a public display of grief. More on the Death of Adonis
Francesco Furini (c. 1600 (or 1603) — August 19, 1646) was an Italian Baroque painter of Florence, noted for his sensual sfumato style in paintings of both secular and religious subjects. He was born in Florence to an artistic family. Furini’s early training was by Matteo Rosselli. Traveling to Rome in 1619, he also would have been exposed to the influence of Caravaggio and his followers.
Furini’s work reflects the tension faced by the conservative, mannerist style of Florence when confronting then novel Baroque styles. He is a painter of biblical and mythological set-pieces with a strong use of the misty sfumato technique. In the 1630s his style paralleled that of Guido Reni.
Furini became a priest in 1633 for the parish of Sant’Ansano in Mugello.
Freedberg describes Furini’s style as filled with “morbid sensuality”. His frequent use of disrobed females is discordant with his excessive religious sentimentality, and his polished stylization and poses are at odds with his aim of expressing highly emotional states. His stylistic choices did not go unnoticed by more puritanical contemporary biographers like Baldinucci. Pignoni also mirrored this style in his works.
Furini traveled to Rome again in the year before his death in 1646. More on Francesco Furini
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