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Louis Félix de La Rue

Venus at the Forge of Vulcan

18th century
Pen and brown ink, and brown wash (bistre) with red chalk and traces of graphite

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In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of July 2026

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FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

Venus, the goddess of love, descends on a cloud into the forge of Vulcan, the god of fire and metalworking. This scene illustrates an episode from Virgil’s Aeneid in which Venus has come to collect the suit of armor she asked Vulcan to make for her son, Aeneas. Several putti on the left play with the finished product.

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