TIEPOLO, Giovanni Battista
(b. 1696, Venezia, d. 1770, Madrid)

Venus Appearing to Aeneas on the Shores of Carthage

1757
Fresco, 230 x 180 cm
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza

This scene is on the wall of the room of Virgil.

During the destruction of Troy, Aeneas flees the city, at the order of the gods, to establish a new city in Italy. A storm drives him to the shores of Carthage. Accompanied by Achates, he makes his way to Dido, the queen of Carthage. His mother Venus appears to him along the way and carries the two men, enveloped in a cloud, unscathed to Carthage. Aeneas and Achates stand on the left of the picture, while Venus, accompanied by Amor, hovers above them to the right, and is in the act of transporting them on a cloud. Ships lie at anchor in the background.