Frans de Neve the Younger (Antwerp ca. 1630 – after 1693?), attributed
Sleeping Venus, Mars and Cupid in a Landscape
Oil on wood, 50.7 x 65.4 cm
In this painting, references to antiquity are joined with a classicizing landscape and a reddish-brown palette recalling Venetian painting: evocations translated into a Flemish idiom, as revealed by the type of putti and the anatomies. The pairing of Mars, bent over and unthreatening with his sword on the ground, with the sleeping Venus seems to suggest more an allegorical than a narrative intent, probably representing the victory of love over war.
