Collection of the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA. Purchase of Miss Helen Clay Frick
2016.1.9
The Birth of Venus
circa 1911 – 1948 (Date created)
Tempera
Painting
Paintings
69 in L x 108.75 in W(Image)
Russian;Italian
Painted after Alessandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus (after 1482).
Nicholas Lochoff (d. 1948)/ after/ Alessandro Botticelli (Florentine, 1444/5-1510)/ THE BIRTH OF VENUS/ Original (c. 1482) in the Uffizi Florence/ Tempera on canvas/ The original of this work was probably painted for Lorenzo Pierfrancesco de'Medici's villa at Castello near Florence. The use of the canvas makes it stand out from the more common panel and fresco paintings of the tie. Botticelli's BIRTH OF VENUS is among the first large-scale paintings of mythological subjects since Antiquity. It shows the myth of Venus' birth, as told by Hesoid and later by Poliziano. Venus, who sprang full-grown from the sea foam, was blown by the winds to land of Cythera (present day Cyprus). Here, a figure identified as Spring or Flora welcomes her on land. Venus generally represents earthly love, yet here an identification with heavenly love is suggested by her modesty and by the roses around her, which were symbols of pure love and of the Virgin Mary.
Probably painted from Lorenzo de'Medici about 1485, the painting is known to have been in the Medici villa at Castello from the time of Duke Cosimo I in the sixteenth century. It has been in the Uffizi Gallery since 1815. The subject was inspired by lines of the Italian poet, Poliziano, which he had adapted from one of the songs of Homer. The composition however recalls the tradition one for the baptism. Indeed it is not unlikely that in the figure of Venus, Botticelli saw a personification of the same pure love which was exemplified by the Virgin whose symbol also came to be the rose (Walter Read Hovey, The Nicholas Lochoff Cloister of The Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts Building, 1965).
Probably painted from Lorenzo de'Medici about 1485, the painting is known to have been in the Medici villa at Castello from the time of Duke Cosimo I in the sixteenth century. It has been in the Uffizi Gallery since 1815. The subject was inspired by lines of the Italian poet, Poliziano, which he had adapted from one of the songs of Homer. The composition however recalls the tradition one for the baptism. Indeed it is not unlikely that in the figure of Venus, Botticelli saw a personification of the same pure love which was exemplified by the Virgin whose symbol also came to be the rose (Walter Read Hovey, The Nicholas Lochoff Cloister of The Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts Building, 1965).
In Collection
Purchased by Miss Helen Clay Frick for the University of Pittsburgh (1959-present)
Boris Lochoff (until 1959); By 1917 Lochoff had only finished and sent back to his home country 8 of these paintings. That same year there was a revolution in Russia. Lochoff was therefore stranded in Italy and cut off from the support previously provided by the Moscow Museum of Art. He was forced to sell the remaining paintings to other buyers. These buyers included Harvard University, the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, and the Frick Art Reference Library in New York. After Lochoff's death, Helen Clay Frick, the woman who started the Fine Arts Department at the University of Pittsburgh and donated the Frick Fine Arts building to the University, acquired this collection with the help of critic and connoisseur, Bernard Berenson. She then donated it to the University of Pittsburgh to adorn the walls of this cloister.
Boris Lochoff (until 1959); By 1917 Lochoff had only finished and sent back to his home country 8 of these paintings. That same year there was a revolution in Russia. Lochoff was therefore stranded in Italy and cut off from the support previously provided by the Moscow Museum of Art. He was forced to sell the remaining paintings to other buyers. These buyers included Harvard University, the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, and the Frick Art Reference Library in New York. After Lochoff's death, Helen Clay Frick, the woman who started the Fine Arts Department at the University of Pittsburgh and donated the Frick Fine Arts building to the University, acquired this collection with the help of critic and connoisseur, Bernard Berenson. She then donated it to the University of Pittsburgh to adorn the walls of this cloister.
Mary Logan Berenson, "A Reconstructor of Old Masterpieces", The American Magazine of Art. (November 1930), pp. 628-638.
Zoa Grace Hawley, "New Life for Old Masters", The Christian Science Monitor, Weekly Magazine section. (October 31, 1934), pp. 8-9; ill. p. 8.
Zoe Grace Hawley, "New Life for Old Masters: Nicholas Lochoff - captures aura of antiquity in exact copies of Italy's fading treasures". (1934)
Edgar Peters Bowron, "European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum". Harvard Art Museums. Cambridge, MA. (1990). pp. 131, not repr.
"[Unidentified article]". Fogg Art Museum Notes. Fogg Art Museum. Cambridge, MA. (February 12, 1921). p.6, repro. b/w.
"A Copy of Gozzoli's Masterpiece". The Harvard Crimson. Cambridge, MA. (February 12, 1921). p.6, repro. b/w.
Mary Logan Berenson. "Preserving the Old Masters by Copying", Transcript (December 31, 1930). p.5, reproduced b/w.
Mary Logan Berenson. "A Reconstructor of Old Masterpieces", The American Magazine of Art. (November 1930). pp. 628-638.
Royal Cortissoz. "Their Appeal to Lovers of our True Tradition". New York Herald Tribune. New York, NY. (March 15, 1931). p.8
Maurice Grosser. "Painter's Progress". C.N. Potter. New York, NY. (1971). Reproduced. p.32, fig. 10.
Edgar Peters Bowron. "European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum". Harvard University Art Museums. Cambridge, MA. (1990). p.110.
Marylynne Pitz. "Rare murals being restored in Pitt fine arts building". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (May 25, 2003).
Bill Homisak. "Fabulous Renaissance fakes at Frick offer faux fun". Tribune-Review. (August 27, 1989).
Jonathon Keats. "Forged: Why Fakes Are the Great Art of Our Age". Oxford University Press. (2013).
Zoa Grace Hawley, "New Life for Old Masters", The Christian Science Monitor, Weekly Magazine section. (October 31, 1934), pp. 8-9; ill. p. 8.
Zoe Grace Hawley, "New Life for Old Masters: Nicholas Lochoff - captures aura of antiquity in exact copies of Italy's fading treasures". (1934)
Edgar Peters Bowron, "European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum". Harvard Art Museums. Cambridge, MA. (1990). pp. 131, not repr.
"[Unidentified article]". Fogg Art Museum Notes. Fogg Art Museum. Cambridge, MA. (February 12, 1921). p.6, repro. b/w.
"A Copy of Gozzoli's Masterpiece". The Harvard Crimson. Cambridge, MA. (February 12, 1921). p.6, repro. b/w.
Mary Logan Berenson. "Preserving the Old Masters by Copying", Transcript (December 31, 1930). p.5, reproduced b/w.
Mary Logan Berenson. "A Reconstructor of Old Masterpieces", The American Magazine of Art. (November 1930). pp. 628-638.
Royal Cortissoz. "Their Appeal to Lovers of our True Tradition". New York Herald Tribune. New York, NY. (March 15, 1931). p.8
Maurice Grosser. "Painter's Progress". C.N. Potter. New York, NY. (1971). Reproduced. p.32, fig. 10.
Edgar Peters Bowron. "European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum". Harvard University Art Museums. Cambridge, MA. (1990). p.110.
Marylynne Pitz. "Rare murals being restored in Pitt fine arts building". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (May 25, 2003).
Bill Homisak. "Fabulous Renaissance fakes at Frick offer faux fun". Tribune-Review. (August 27, 1989).
Jonathon Keats. "Forged: Why Fakes Are the Great Art of Our Age". Oxford University Press. (2013).
Please note that cataloging is ongoing and that some information may not be complete.
Italians
Renaissance
Cloisters
Architectural decorations and ornaments
Tempera paintings
Venus
Myths
Florence
Renaissance
Cloisters
Architectural decorations and ornaments
Tempera paintings
Venus
Myths
Florence