Woman Combing her Hair - Toilet of Venus, 1673–1736
ArtistVictor Honoré Janssens,
Bruxelles
1658–1736
Bruxelles
Oil on canvas
Dimensions without frame110,5 × 88 × 3,1 cm
Dimensions with frame140 × 116,5 × 12,5 cm
Status
not on displayThe motif of Venus combing her hair was widespread in Italy between the 16th and 18th centuries. The goddess of beauty and love was often depicted with a mirror, as in this painting by Victor Honoré Janssens. Janssens gives his Venus golden-blonde curly hair that falls in soft waves across her bare chest, thanks to the stroke of a comb. His interpretation interweaves the divine with the human and places female sensuality at the centre. The painter stages an ideal image of female beauty and, through the worldly practice of combing, also alludes to its transience.
AccessionAcquisition 1938
Provenance[...]; mind. Juni 1938 Dr. H. Roland and Dr. G. Delbanco, London; Juni 1938 Kunsthandlung Karl Haberstock, Berlin, erworben von Roland and Delbanco; November 1938 erworben von der Kunsthandlung Karl HaberstockInventory numberM 113
Contact
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