The Sleep of Venus

The Sleep of Venus was a favourite subject of Boucher's in the mid- and late- 1730's. Ananoff reproduces several interpretations on this theme by the artist, each with the same basic iconography, one of which was sold at Christie's, London, 6 July 2006, lot 55 (see A. Ananoff, François Boucher, Geneva, 1976, no. 173 and nos. 121, 124, 321). Given that Boucher himself was inclined to produce versions of this subject, it is no surprise that it became a popular subject for other artists to interpret.