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The Snake in the Grass; or Love unloosing the zone of Beauty
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SM P7. ©Sir John Soane's Museum, London. Photo: Art UK
Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (1723 - 1792)
The Snake in the Grass; or Love unloosing the zone of Beauty
1785
Oil on canvas
Height: 124.5cm
Width: 99. 5cm
Width: 99. 5cm
Inscription: None
Museum number: P7
On display: Library-Dining Room
All spaces are in No. 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields unless identified as in No. 12, Soane's first house.
For tours https://www.soane.org/your-visit
Curatorial note
This picture depicts Cupid untying the girdle of Venus. It seems likely that the young Emma, later Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson’s lover, was the model for Venus in this picture. There are two other versions, in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia and at Tate Britain.
John Britton in the first published guidebook to Soane's Museum wrote of this picture: 'Love and Beauty, commonly called The Snake in the Grass, a fancy picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, is a fine specimen of that amiable and tasteful artist's productions. It has all the rich and deep tones of Titian, with a loveliness of female face which we seek for in vain in the works of the eminent Venetian painter'.
John Britton in the first published guidebook to Soane's Museum wrote of this picture: 'Love and Beauty, commonly called The Snake in the Grass, a fancy picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, is a fine specimen of that amiable and tasteful artist's productions. It has all the rich and deep tones of Titian, with a loveliness of female face which we seek for in vain in the works of the eminent Venetian painter'.
Provenance
Purchased by Soane at the Christie's Sale of the Marchioness of Thomond's collection (she was Reynolds' niece) in May 1821 for £535.10.0 (see Soane Journal 21 May 1821).
Literature
Britton, J., The Union of Architecture, Sculpture and Painting, 1827, pp. 34, 53 and 56
Soane, Description, 1830, p.20 and 45
Soane, Description, 1835, p. 7 and 9
Graves, A. and Cronin, W. V., A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, volume III, 1899, p. 1211
Mannings, D., Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art), 2000
New Description, Sir John Soane's Museum, 2007, pp.8 and 100
Soane, Description, 1830, p.20 and 45
Soane, Description, 1835, p. 7 and 9
Graves, A. and Cronin, W. V., A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, volume III, 1899, p. 1211
Mannings, D., Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art), 2000
New Description, Sir John Soane's Museum, 2007, pp.8 and 100
Soane collections online is being continually updated. If you wish to find out more or if you have any further information about this object please contact us: worksofart@soane.org.uk