Pair of Italian Neoclassical Old Master Style Drawings 
after Stefano Pozzi (Rome 1699 – 1768)

Pair of Stefano Pozzi neoclassical-style studies from Virgil's Aeneid:
Venus Disguised as a Huntress Appears to Aeneas (Aeneid I; 305 ff.) 
Venus in the Forge of Vulcan (Aeneid VIII; 370 ff)

Pair of fine vintage old master style drawings on blue-grey paper in the style of Pozzi of the story from Virgil's Aeneid. The play of light on the dark tones and chalk highlights makes these a pleasure to view and difficult to capture in a photograph.

Venus Disguised as a Huntress Appears to Aeneas
Venus, disguised as a huntress, appears to Aeneas in Book 1, lines 305 ff. of Virgil’s Aeneid, guiding her shipwrecked son toward Carthage and Queen Dido's palace. 

In this famous scene, after a fierce storm drives the surviving Trojans onto an unknown shore, Aeneas and his faithful companion Achates set out to explore the unfamiliar land. Venus intercepts them wearing the gear of a Spartan or Thracian huntress—complete with a bow, a quiver of arrows, and a loose tunic tied up high—to conceal her divine identity. 

When Aeneas asks for directions and laments their hardships, Venus comforts him, tells him he has reached Carthaginian territory ruled by Dido, and instructs him to head into the city. As she turns to leave, the radiant light of her neck, her ambrosial hair, and her divine gait reveal her true identity. Aeneas recognises his mother too late as she vanishes, leaving him both comforted and heartbroken by her elusiveness.

Venus in the Forge of Vulcan 
Aeneas faces a brutal war against the Latins in Italy. Knowing her son needs supernatural help, Venus uses her divine charm and seduction to persuade her estranged husband, Vulcan (the god of fire and metalwork), to lay aside his own grief over her past infidelities and build a peerless set of arms. (Aeneid VIII; 370 ff) 

Moved by his wife's beauty, Vulcan agrees. He travels deep into his subterranean forge—located inside a volcanic island or Mount Etna—where he commands his assistants, the Cyclopes, to work the glowing metal. They forge a radiant helmet, a breastplate, a stout sword, a mighty spear, and an elaborate shield. The masterpiece of the armour is the shield itself, which brilliantly depicts the future glory of Rome, including the triumphs of Romulus, the battle of Actium, and the ultimate victory of Augustus—effectively tying Aeneas's heroic destiny to the future empire of Rome.

Condition: Excellent; some smudging and toning to the paper.

Dimensions: 28.9 cm x 39.2 cm, oval format is 21.6 cm x 30.8 cm,
total size is slightly bigger than 11" x 15". Frame and mat not included.

Medium: Pencil and charcoal heightened with chalks, on blue-grey paper. Sold without frames and mats. 

Provenance: Presumed to be a later hand-drawn student study or later-century artist copy. 

Please note: For some reason, our camera is not accurately photographing the paper tone, which is a beautiful blue-grey, not grey. We experimented against different backgrounds, and the images that appear more blue are the most accurate.

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