CRANACH, Lucas the Elder
(b. 1472, Kronach, d. 1553, Weimar)

Venus and Cupid

1506
Woodcut
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

This chiaroscuro woodcut shows a completely naked female figure. In her left hand Venus holds a cloth which may previously have covered her pudendum, but then was blown away by a gust of wind which made one end flutter restlessly in the air. Her right hand makes a gesture of restraint at the Cupid child with his taut bow.