3-097-567 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Birth of Adonis, 1723-1725. Companion piece to The Death of Adonis. The myth of the passionate love between Venus and Adonis was a favourite of Rococo painters, as the story allowed for the depiction of subtle amorous encounters set in Arcadian landscapes, replete with lush vegetation, fountains, and springs. Adonis was born of the incestuous relationship between Cinyras, king of Cyprus , and his daughter Myrrha, who, bewitched by Venus, had fallen in love with her father. To seduce him, Myrrha disguised herself as a courtesan. When the king discovered the ruse, he tried to kill Myrrha, at which point she transformed into a tree - depicted here with a vulva-like aperture, from which Adonis was born. The extraordinary beauty of Adonis would eventually captivate Venus, a relationship that would conclude with the tragic end of the young man, the subject of the second painting.