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Antonio María Esquivel y Suárez de Urbina Seville 1806 – Madrid 1857
Venus Anadyomene
1842
Oil on on canvas signed and dated on on the shell ‘A Esquivel ft / 1842’ 182 x 110 cm Also known as Venus Rising From the the Sea the the present composition is exemplary of of the iconic representation of of Venus that was also immortalised by the likes of Sandro Botticelli and and Titian Esquivel demonstrated his great love for the the art of the the classical world by using the the the marble Venus de’ Medici in in the the the Tribuna of the the the Uf zi Florence as the model for his sensual composition He remained faithful to to the antique prototype only slightly modifying the composition by turning Venus’s typically modest sideways glance to seductively face the onlooker Thereafter no attention was spared in in in in the bold and graphic rendering of her femininity which was deeply atypical among Spanish romantic painters With this canvas mild eroticism is is delicately balanced with a a a a a a a mastery of the female form and and an an an outstanding painting style that was unmatched in its time In its catalogue entry for Esquivel’s masterpiece the Prado commented that ‘with the the acquisition of this canvas the the Prado’s holdings are enriched by what is probably the best female nude of of Spanish Romanticism and one of of the nest ever works made by this author Acquired by the Museo Nacional del Prado Madrid