''Venus Anadyomene'' is an

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

by the French

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Théodore Chassériau Théodore Chassériau (; ; September 20, 1819 – October 8, 1856) was a Dominican-born French Romantic painter noted for his portraits, historical and religious paintings, allegorical murals, and Orientalist images inspired by his travels to A ...

, from 1828. It depicts the classical scene of

Venus Anadyomene ''Venus Anadyomene'' (, "Venus, Rising from the Sea") is one of the iconic representations of the goddess Venus (mythology), Venus (Aphrodite), made famous in a much-admired painting by Apelles, now lost, but described in Natural History (encycl ...

, showing the Goddess

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

rising from the sea. It appeared at the Salon of 1839, where it was a popular success and along with ''Susanna at her Bath'' established the young artist's reputation. Today the painting is in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, having been acquired in 1920. A smaller version of the composition, more freely executed and somewhat more realistic, is in a private collection. It is not known whether it is a study for the larger painting or an autograph replica.Guégan et al. pp. 84–85

References

Bibliography

* Guégan, Stéphane; Pomarède, Vincent; Prat, Louis-Antoine (2002). ''Théodore Chassériau, 1819-1856: The Unknown Romantic''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. . * Murray, Christopher John. ''Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850, Volume 2''. Taylor & Francis, 2004. * Muesham, Gerd. ''French Painters and Paintings from the Fourteenth Century to Post-impressionism''. Ungar, 1970. Paintings by Théodore Chassériau 1838 paintings History paintings Nude paintings of women Oil on canvas paintings Paintings in the Louvre by French artists Paintings of Venus {{1830s-painting-stub