John Gibson RA, Birth of Venus

Birth of Venus

John Gibson RA (1790 - 1866)

RA Collection: Art

A drawing of 'The Birth of Venus'. The goddess stands in the centre of the composition, viewed from the front, being crowned with a garland of flowers by a female figure on the right as she looks down at Cupid who clings to her arm on the left.

The drawing is in pen and ink outline, over pencil, with hatched shading. The image is within a rectangular pen and ink border and the sheet is squared-up, suggesting that the artist intended to transfer this composition to a larger scale, possibly for the sculpted version he produced (see 04/738). Gibson produced a plaster relief of this composition but Matthews and Lady Eastlake state that he did not execute it in marble.

Object details

Title
Birth of Venus
Artist/designer
John Gibson RA (1790 - 1866)
Object type
Drawing
Medium
Pen and ink with pencil on wove paper
Dimensions

226 mm x 291 mm

Collection
Royal Academy of Arts
Object number
05/621
Acquisition
Bequeathed by John Gibson RA 1866

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