Venus Anadyomene
c. 1841/1842
Medium
lithograph on gray-tinted chine colle
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.2784
Art Historical Context
In the National Gallery of Art's Rosen Collection, *Venus Anadyomene* (c. 1841/1842) by Thé Chassériau captures the mythical birth of Venus rising from the sea, a motif inspired by ancient Greek sculptures and paintings, such as the lost work by Apelles. Created when Chassériau was in his early twenties, this lithograph reflects the young French artist's burgeoning talent, blending the precise line work of his mentor Ingres with the sensual romanticism influenced by Delacroix. As a print in the CG-E department, it exemplifies 19th-century Romanticism's fascination with idealized beauty and myt...
About the Artist
Théodore Chassériau · 1819–1856
Théodore Chassériau was born on September 20, 1819, in El Limón, Samaná, in the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo — present-day Dominican Republic — to a French father and a Creole mother. The family relocated to Paris in 1820, and the young Chassériau's exceptional talent was evident almost immediately. At just eleven years old, in 1830, he was accepted into the prestigious studio of Jean-Auguste-D...