Venus Presenting Arms to Aeneas
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Venus Presenting Arms to Aeneas” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) was born in Normandy but spent his formative years in Paris from 1612–1623. He may have studied with Ferdinand Elle (ca.1585-1637/40) and Georges Lallemand (died 1636) and was influenced by the second Ecole of Fontainebleau. He went to Italy and arrived in Rome, following a visit to Venice, in March 1624 where he spent the rest of his life. He became a member of the Accademia di S Luca by 1632 and received commissions from important collectors in France and Italy, producing history, religious and landscape paintings. His most famous pupil was his brother-in-law Gaspard Dughet (1615-1675).
Read on
This painting is a copy after Poussin’s Venus Presenting Arms to Aeneas housed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen. It depicts Venus, attended by putti and a swan, showing her son Aeneas the arms she had have forged for him. Aeneas is presented here as a Greek hero with a large cloak wrapped around him and a helmet while reclining figures on the ground symbolised fluvial divinities. This painting is a good example of Poussin’s mythological subject and Classical baroque art, which combined movement with a symmetrical balance.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- CAI.21
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Wikidata — d3d00swyhr67nd.cloudfront.net · free licence (Wikidata P4765)
