Lover's Net
Lover's Net
3D
Published 2020-08-19T10:13:13+00:00
Caroni was born in Rancate in 1826, studied first in Milan under Vincenzo Vela, and then in Florence with Lorenzo Bartolini, where he eventually opened a studio. He received the Cavaliere della Corona d'Italia, and participated in a number of international exhibitions, most notably the Paris exhibitions of 1867, where he won a gold medal for Ofelia, and 1889 with Message d’amour. At the Centenial exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, he exhibited The Telegram of Love and L'Africaine. The Monument to Columbus, erected in 1876 in Philadelphia's Marconi Plaza, is attributed to Caroni.
Caroni might have been inspired to create this composition by a contemporary, Raimondo Pereda (1840–1915) who exhibited, alongside works by Caroni at the Philadelphia exhibition, a marble also entitled Love’s Net. Pereda’s work shows cupid trapping Venus in his net, whereas her, with playful charm, Caroni reverses the initiator by showing Venus trapping cupid, who looks none too happy to have been caught. The allusion is to a mythological scene when Venus and Mars are caught in a net in their adulterous liaison by Venus’ husband Vulcan. In turn, the playfulness of Venus disarming cupid, references French rococo ideals, popular in romantic sculpture of the period.
| Date published | 19/08/2020 |
| Schwierigkeitsgrad | Medium |
| Title | Lover's Net |
| Date | ca. 1889 |
| Dimension | Height, 150.5 cm |
| Accession | Private Collection |
| Period | Romantic |
| Medium | Marble |
| Credit | Sold at Christie's "European Art Part II' Auction, New York, 28th October 2019. Price realised, USD 87,500 |
| Record | https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/emanuele-caroni-italian-b-1826-lovers-net-6229397-details.aspx |
| Artist | Emanuele Caroni |
| Place | Christie's |