Venus Disguised as a Huntress Appears to Aeneas (Aeneid I: 305 ff.)

Art Historical Context

In the lush wilderness evoked by Stefano Pozzi's *Venus Disguised as aress Appears to Aene* (ca. 1699–1768), we witness a pivotal moment from Virgil's *Aeneid* (Book I, lines 305 ff.). Here, the goddess Venus—disguised as aress with quiver and bow—reveals herself to her mortal son Aeneas, surrounded by trees and noble horses. This scene captures the epic's blend divine intervention and heroic destiny, as Aeneas, shipwrecked en route to found Rome, receives guidance from his mother amid Italy's mythic landscapes. Pozzi, a Roman artist of the Rococo era, masterfully employs black chalk heightened with white on toned blue paper to achieve luminous effects and soft modeling. The oval composition (9-5/8 x 12-15/16 in. within a larger rectangular sheet) draws the eye to the graceful figures, evoking the elegance of 18th-century draftsmanship often used for preparatory studies or collector's pieces. This technique highlights dramatic chiaroscuro, lending ethereal glow to Venus while grounding Aeneas in earthy tones. Acquired through the Rogers Fund in 1965, this drawing from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Drawings and Prints exemplifies the period's fascination with classical antiquity, bridging Baroque theatricality and emerging Neoclassicism for an intimate, poetic meditation on myth.