Lot Essay
The style and composition of the present work is comparable to Lairesse's work in the 1670s and 1680s. As Alain Roy has noted, at this time his compositions were relatively simple, with the accent placed upon the protagonists, here Venus and Cupid. The firm, monumental modelling of the figures and strong play of light and shade, may be compared with the Portrait Allégorique de la Duchesse Marie de Cleves (1671, Amiens, Musée de Picardie), and the Selèné et Endymion (1678-1682, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum; see A. Roy, Gérard de Lairesse 1640-1711, Paris, 1992, pp. 244-5, and 297-8, nos. P66 and P136, pls. 9 and 13).
The artist treated the same subject in a series of four engravings on The History of Venus, symbolising The Four Elements (dated 1675-80). The last of the series, Fire, also depicts Venus and Cupid at the Forge of Vulcan (A. Roy, op.cit., pp. 461-3, nos. G79-82, illustrated).
The artist treated the same subject in a series of four engravings on The History of Venus, symbolising The Four Elements (dated 1675-80). The last of the series, Fire, also depicts Venus and Cupid at the Forge of Vulcan (A. Roy, op.cit., pp. 461-3, nos. G79-82, illustrated).