Material: 17th-century antique engraving. Dutch painters - Bartholomeus Spranger.
Publication: Circa 1600. After Bartholomeus Spranger.
Technique: 1 print. Copper engraving.
Measurements: 25.5 x 20.5 cm [imprint], 47.5 x 42.5 cm [passepartout].
Visual Description: Venus under a tree holds Cupid's arrow, and both direct their gaze to the background where Pluto appears in his chariot over the sea waters. After Spranger. Inscription at the bottom: "B. Spranger. Inve. HGoltzius Sculp. Verses at the bottom signed by Franco Estius.
Conservation: Short margins at the edge of the engraving's imprint.
Observations: The engraver's name appears handwritten in ink, and it is known from the paper's fragility in this area that the original printed name has been removed. (possibly, Pieter de Jode I, Netherlandish, Antwerp 1570–Antwerp 1634)
Provenance: Engraving belonging to the art collection of Gaspar de Haro y Guzmán, 7th Marquis of Carpio and Eliche (1629 - 1687), a Spanish nobleman, diplomat, and politician. He was the son of the collector Luis de Haro and inherited a large repertoire of paintings from him, which he progressively expanded with works of great quality.
References: Hollstein, Vol. XVI, page 192.
Bartholomeus Spranger was a Flemish painter, draftsman, and engraver, one of the most prominent representatives of Northern Mannerism, born in Antwerp, in the Duchy of Brabant, in the Habsburg Netherlands.