School of Love. Venus with Mercury and Cupid, The School of Love or The Education of Cupid is a cieca 1525 painting by the Italian painter Correggio, now in the National Gallery.
A preparatory sketch for it survives in the British Museum. Venus and Cupid with a Satyr seems to be its pendant-that painting is larger but Venus with Mercury and Cupid may have been cut down later.
They were probably commissioned by Nicola Maffei and the early fame of Venus with Mercury and Cupid is attested by a copy made by Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli. However, the first written reference to the two paintings is in 1627, by which time they were in the Gonzaga collection in Mantua.
Between 1627 and 1628 both paintings were acquired from the Gonzagas by Charles I and it is attested as being in Whitehall Palace in 1639.His collection also contained copies of the painting and its pendant by Peter Oliver, known as Venerie Coeleste and Venerie Mundano respectively. At the sale of Charles' goods it was valued at E800 and sold on 23 October 1651 to Thomas Bagley, a glazier in the royal household.
It was bought in 1653 by the Spanish ambassador Alonso de Cardenas for 1600 escudos. He was acting as the agent for Luis de Haro, who had planned to present it to Philip IV of Spain. However, when the painting arrived in Madrid Velazquez challenged its attribution to Correggio and Luis decided to keep it for himself. It was inherited
A preparatory sketch for it survives in the British Museum. Venus and Cupid with a Satyr seems to be its pendant-that painting is larger but Venus with Mercury and Cupid may have been cut down later.
They were probably commissioned by Nicola Maffei and the early fame of Venus with Mercury and Cupid is attested by a copy made by Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli. However, the first written reference to the two paintings is in 1627, by which time they were in the Gonzaga collection in Mantua.
Between 1627 and 1628 both paintings were acquired from the Gonzagas by Charles I and it is attested as being in Whitehall Palace in 1639.His collection also contained copies of the painting and its pendant by Peter Oliver, known as Venerie Coeleste and Venerie Mundano respectively. At the sale of Charles' goods it was valued at E800 and sold on 23 October 1651 to Thomas Bagley, a glazier in the royal household.
It was bought in 1653 by the Spanish ambassador Alonso de Cardenas for 1600 escudos. He was acting as the agent for Luis de Haro, who had planned to present it to Philip IV of Spain. However, when the painting arrived in Madrid Velazquez challenged its attribution to Correggio and Luis decided to keep it for himself. It was inherited
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