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Angelica Kauffmann

Praxiteles Giving Phryne his Statue of Cupid, 1794

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Angelica Kauffmann, 1741-1807, Swiss

Title

Praxiteles Giving Phryne his Statue of Cupid

Year

1794

Medium

Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • oil paint

Supports

  • canvas

Dimensions

43.3 x 48.6 cm (17 1/16 x 19 1/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed and dated UR:Angelica Kauffman / Pinx. Romae / 1794

Place

Italy

Type

  • Paintings

Credit

Museum Works of Art Fund

Object Number

59.008

About

This scene depicts the Greek sculptor Praxiteles offering his favorite work, a statue of Cupid, as a gift to the courtesan Phryne. The subject is both tender and original, imagining the artist in a private dialogue with his beautiful mistress. Painted in Rome, it was one of four small paintings with themes of antiquity that were commissioned from Angelica Kauffmann by a British patron.
The Swiss-born artist was a history painter whose talents in both music and the fine arts helped establish her at the center of Rome’s vibrant artistic community in the 1760s. In Italy, and later in London, she belonged to an international circle of painters committed to a neo-classical style whose figures reflected knowledge of ancient and Renaissance models and whose themes derived from ancient history.

Signed and dated UR:Angelica Kauffman / Pinx. Romae / 1794

Italy
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Exhibition History

Exhibition History

From the Reserve I

April 9 - August 3, 1994

European Painting and Sculpture, circa 1770-1937

October 18, 1991 - January 26, 1992

European Galleries

Angelica Kauffmann painted this theme from antiquity as one in a series of commissions for a British patron. She had trained as an artist from a young age, working as an assistant to her father, a muralist and painter. They traveled extensively and settled in Rome when she was a young teenager. Kauffmann was a painter and a musician, and became a member of Rome’s vibrant artistic community. Later, in London, she belonged to an international circle of painters whose themes derived from ancient history. In this intimate scene, the Greek sculptor Praxiteles offers his favorite work, a statue of Cupid, to Phyrne, his beautiful mistress.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Praxiteles Giving Phryne his Statue of Cupid with the accession number of 59.008. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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