A vestal of -93, trying on the cestus of Venus / Js. Gy. desn. et fect.
Image not available
James Gillray
1756-1815
A vestal of -93, trying on the cestus of Venus / Js. Gy. desn. et fect.
hand colored aquatint
image: 29.9 x 36 cm; sheet: 30.5 x 38 cm
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1900.
Peel 2819
Published:
[London] : H. Humphrey, 1793.
Provenance:
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes:
Trimmed to within plate mark.
Summary:
Three amoretti attend the toilet of an aged woman; the cestus of Venus is a huge pad which one (left) ties round her waist, and another supports. A third (right) holds up an oval mirror which reflects the monstrous curve of the pad. She wears a small grotesque straw hat, from which hangs drapery reaching to the ground, with stays and under-petticoat; from a pocket protrudes 'Ovid Art [of Love]'. She crouches in profile to the right, her hands raised delightedly. Cupid, who ties the girdle, has a quiver of arrows which hangs reversed; his bow and arrow lie beside him. Behind (right) is an overturned altar of Venus, the fire still burning.
Catalog link:
Artist page:
Classification:
Department: