Venus geeft Amor een standje 1617

Odoardo Fialetti created this small etching, "Venus gives Amor a scolding", in the 17th century. It depicts the goddess Venus chastising her son Cupid. In this period, artists in Italy responded to the norms of the Academy by representing classical subjects with an eye to morality. Look at Venus’s raised finger, the way she seems to be telling off the crying Cupid. The Latin text at the bottom suggests she is scolding him for misusing his arrows. Fialetti’s choice of subject and tone reflects the influence of the Catholic Church on artistic production. The Academy promoted moralizing subjects from classical myth, presented in a theatrical style designed to inspire the viewer. To understand the context of an artwork like this, art historians consult a wide range of sources, including letters between artists and patrons and the publications of the art academies. These materials show us how cultural institutions shape the meaning of art.