Venus, Vulcan and Cupid
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright for Photograph: Creative Commons |
Location
| Street: | Church Street / A283 |
| Town: | Petworth |
| Parish: | Petworth |
| Council: | Chichester District Council |
| County: | West Sussex |
| Postcode: | GU28 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Inside building |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | Petworth House, The North Gallery, Square Bay |
| In the AZ book: | West Sussex |
| Page: | 61 |
| Grid reference: | N9 |
| The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks. | |
| Previous location: | Petworth House, The Audit Room (moved 1992) |
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Makers
| Name : | John Edward Carew |
| Role: | Sculptor |
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General Information
| Commissioned by: | George O’Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837) |
| Construction period: | c.1827/8-31 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | The National Trust (Petworth House) |
| Description: | White marble group. A naked Vulcan with drapery to the genital area, is seated on his anvil inscribed ‘AITNA’ and resting his right hand on his hammer. He is with his wife, Venus, who stands behind him with her left hand resting on his right shoulder. Her winged son, Cupid, stands to the left of Vulcan and looks up towards his face. |
| Iconographical description: | Vulcan was the God of Fire and the Blacksmith of the Gods. Venus was his wife, and Cupid her son. Vulcan forged Cupid's wings. |
| Signatures: | Signature at the left hand corner of the integral base in front of Cupid’s right leg:
J.E. CAREW. 1827 Carved catalogue number on base '115' |
| Inscription: | AITNA |
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Classification
| Categories: | Free Standing, Sculptural |
| Object type1: | Sculpture |
| Object type2: | Statue |
| Subject type1: | Mythological |
| Subject subtype1: | Seated |
| Subject type2: | Figurative |
| Subject subtype1: | Group |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Circular pedestal |
| Material: | Portland stone |
| Height (cm): | 138 |
| Width (cm): | 105 |
| Depth (cm): | 105 |
| Part 2: | Statue |
| Material: | White marble |
| Height (cm): | 190 |
| Width (cm): | 130 |
| Depth (cm): | 120 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Good |
| Risk assessment: | No known risk |
| Condition 1 of type: | Structural |
| Condition 1: | Cracks, splits, breaks, holes |
| More details: | Left arm of Cupid possibly has a previous repair. Marble cracked on the anvil between the ‘A’ and the ‘I |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 27/06/2008 |
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History
| History: | The North Gallery is one of the very few top-lit sculpture and picture galleries to survive from the early nineteenth century. It was extensively restored in 1991-3. The South corridor is the earliest part of the gallery, which was built between 1754 and 1763 to house the major part of the 2nd. Earl’s collection of antiques statuary. The top-lit Central Corridor was added to the gallery by the 3rd. Earl in 1824-5. At the same time work began on the final extension to the gallery, the Square Bay and the whole was finished in October 1827. The works were supervised by Thomas Upton, the Petworth Clerk of Works, and executed by his building yard. Advice was sought from at least three artists; the painter Thomas Philips and the sculptors Sir Francis Chantrey and John Edward Carew. The galleries are presently painted a dark red, restored to this colour during the 1991-3 restorations. The galleries had been this colour in 1873. Red (with green, the most traditional colour for picture galleries) was felt by Ruskin to accentuate the contours of sculpture, and it was known to have been used in ancient Rome as a foil to sculpture. The present sculpture arrangement (devised in 1991-3) was designed to restore, as far as possible that conceived by the 3rd. Earl. It was taken from a unique ground plan of the 3rd. Earl’s statue deployment drawn up in 1835 by H.W. Philips. Apart from the Flaxman, the Square Bay has become a gallery of works by the Irish sculptor J.E. Carew, many of which were placed here in 1835.
Carew stated that he began work on this colossal group ‘about 1827 or 1828’ and that it was completed before 1831, but his assistant remembered that it was made in London and finished by 1828, so the exact dates are unclear. Originally intended for this position with Carew’s other colossus, Prometheus and Pandora, commissioned as its pendant. Both statues were subsequently (in 1836-7) moved into the Audit Room (NT Restaurant) where they were placed on the present Portland stone pedestals supplied for £83:18s: 2d. The two statue groups were moved here in 1992. |
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References
| Source 1 : | |
| Title: | 'Petworth House' |
| Type: | Book |
| Author: | Rowell, Christopher |
| Publisher: | The National Trust. |
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Photographs
Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
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