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Thomas Phillips RA, Venus and Adonis

Venus and Adonis, 1808

Thomas Phillips RA (1770 - 1845)

RA Collection: Art

Phillips was apprenticed to a glass painter in Birmingham before moving to London in 1790. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1791 along with Sir Martin Archer Shee, PRA. Phillips also worked in Benjamin West’s studio. His early exhibited work included history paintings but he soon realised that if he were to live by his profession that ‘I must attach myself to Portraiture’.

However as portraits were not acceptable as Diploma Works, Phillips submitted Venus and Adonis as his presentation piece. Phillips depicts Adonis with a spear in hand and his dog on a leash, eager to go off hunting, while Venus implores him to stay. The turtle doves and the scattered roses refer both to Venus’s beauty and the love she felt for Adonis.

Object details

Title
Venus and Adonis
Artist/designer
Thomas Phillips RA (1770 - 1845)
Date
1808
Object type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions

1274 mm x 1019 mm x 25 mm

Collection
Royal Academy of Arts
Object number
03/1363
Acquisition
Diploma Work given by Thomas Phillips RA accepted 1808

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