Venus at her toilet, assisted by the three Graces; she sits on the lap of one of them, another combs her hair, and two cupids hold a mirror in which she admires her own beauty. Engraving by M. Dorigny, 1651, after S. Vouet.

Previous title, replaced December 2023 : Venus at her toilet; she sits on the lap of a female attendant, another attendant combs her hair and two cherubs hold a mirror in which she admires her own beauty. Engraving by M. Dorigny, 1651, after S. Vouet.

1651

1 print : engraving ; image 33 x 23.6 cm

Dum Venus in speculo formam cernitq. capillos; / Arte comi Charitum, gratior, inquit, ero. / Sed dum nos longis vult impluvisse capillis, / Demens, se laqueis implicat ipsa suis: ; S. Voüet pinxit ; cum privilegio regis ; M. Dorigny sculp. 1651 Translaton of lettering: While Venus looks in the mirror at her beauty and hair, she says "I shall be more comely thanks to the hairdressing skill of the Graces". But while she wants to have her long hair pour down on us, she madly enfolds herself in her own traps.

Roger-Armand Weigert, Inventaire du fonds français, graveurs du XVIIe siècle, Bibliothèque nationale, cabinet des estampes, tome III, Paris 1954, p. 480 ('(53-113 [i.e. 135]) Gravures d'après Simon Vouet.'] and p. 489, Michel Dorigny no. 132 ('132. La toilette de Vénus. 1651. R[obert]-D[umesnil], 132 … Composition repr. en tapisserie avec variantes. Voir M. Fenaille, op. cit. [M. Fenaille, État général des Gobelins, 1923]')

Wellcome Collection 34306i