Nymphs Sacrificing to Love

Print

Purdue University Galleries

Name/Title

Nymphs Sacrificing to Love

Entry/Object ID

1987.08.04

Type of Print

Engraving

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Angelica Kauffman

Attribution

After a painting by

Role

Painter

Artist

Antonio Suntach

Role

Engraver

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Inscription

Location

lower left

Transcription

Angelica Kauffman pinx

Translation

Painted by Angelica Kauffman

Material/Technique

Ink, Engraved

Type

Inscription

Location

lower right

Transcription

Suntach Dicexit

Translation

Engraved by Suntach

Material/Technique

Ink, Engraved

Type

Inscription

Location

lower left and lower right

Transcription

Love the most generous passion of the mind The softest refuge Innocence can find; The safe director of unguided Youth. Fraught with kind wishes and secured by Truth; The cordial drop, Heav'n in our Cup has thrown, To make the nauscous draught of Life go down.

Language

English

Material/Technique

Ink, Engraved

Type

Inscription

Location

lower center

Transcription

NYMPHS Sacrificing to LOVE.

Language

English

Material/Technique

Ink, Engraved

Type

Inscription

Location

lower right

Transcription

Material/Technique

Pencil, Written

Type

Chop

Location

lower right

Transcription

entwined and embossed CC

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Tertiary Object Term

Engraving

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Print, Intaglio

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Graphic Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Provenance

Provenance Detail

Source Notes

Role

Information provided by source.

Exhibition

She Contains Multitudes (2020)

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

Nymphs Sacrificing to Love Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807) Etching Angelica Kauffman was born in Switzerland and lived and worked in England and Italy. She was a very popular portraitist and also a history painter in the Neo Classical style. She was a child prodigy trained by her father, earning her own portrait commissions by the age of twelve. She was accepted into the Academy of St. Luke in Rome when she was 23. While in Italy she painted portraits of many English aristocrats on the Grand Tour. She was invited to London, where she worked alongside the leading artists of the day, such as Joshua Reynolds and became one of only two female founding members of the Royal Academy of Art. In spite of her success as a portrait painter, Kauffman wanted to be known as a serious painter of historical and mythological subjects, considered at the time to be the highest form of art. She was at a disadvantage in that she, as a woman, was not allowed to attend life-drawing classes to do anatomical studies, important for painting the male figure. Instead, she copied antique sculptures or concentrated on presenting the female form in her work. Kauffman produced many etchings of mythological subjects, like Nymphs Sacrificing to Love. Here, three nymphs in classical garments gather before a statue of Cupid, the Greek god of Love. In graceful dance-like poses, they present a garland of flowers. The kneeling nymph is partly undressed, adding an erotic tinge to the sweet sentimental scene. Angelica Kauffman was almost forgotten in the annals of art history. She did not get the attention of her male Neo Classical counterparts like Jaques-Louis David or Antonio Canova. However, that is changing now, as a major overview with 100 of her works opened in January 2020 in the Kunstpalast of Dusseldorf, Germany. Linda Martin, Limited Term Lecturer in Art History