Venus Giving Arms to Aeneas

Jean Cornu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The later reign of Louis XIV witnessed a veritable explosion of theatrical Baroque sculptural groups devoted to the retelling of classical myths. In an episode taken from Virgil's Aeneid, the goddess Venus descends from the skies to present her son, the Trojan prince Aeneas, with a spectacular set of armor. As an addition to the story, Cupid, half-brother of Aeneas, raises the shield.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art