Venus Gathering Apples

This little painting was formerly attributed to Domenichino (1581-1641). Its recent cleaning has confirmed its quality, and it may have originated in the master?s studio. A painting in Helsinki?s Sinebrychoff Museum, of Apollo and Daphne, repeats the nude figure. Both paintings, not necessarily by the same artist, presumably have their roots in a single drawing, probably of the famous classical statue of Venus Callipygeia (?Venus of the beautiful behind?). The subject is perhaps Venus gathering the golden apples which she then used to aid Hippomenes in his race with Atalanta (Ovid, Metamorphoses, X). The painting?s original illustrious attribution explains its magnificent carved, gilt framed, also recently restored.