Harvard Art Museums > 20.2005: The Planet Venus Prints Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"The Planet Venus (Benvenuto Disertori) , 20.2005,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, May 12, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/50001. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 20.2005 People Benvenuto Disertori, Italian (Trento (Trieste), Italy 1887 - 1969 Milan, Italy) Title The Planet Venus Other Titles Series/Book Title: The Planets Original Language Title: Il Pianeta Venere Classification Prints Work Type print Date 1923-1924 Culture Italian Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/50001 Physical Descriptions Technique Etching Dimensions plate: 41 x 29 cm (16 1/8 x 11 7/16 in.) Inscriptions and Marks Signed: Benvenuto Disertori inscription: lower right corner, brown ink, hand written, signed, in artist's hand: signature: Benvenuto Disertori inscription: lower left corner, graphite, hand written: cataloguing information: Cat. Calabi P. L. A. 2 / 45 watermark: [the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, in an oval] State, Edition, Standard Reference Number State ii or iii/iii or iv Standard Reference Number B. & A. 45 Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Anonymous Loan Object Number 20.2005 Division Modern and Contemporary Art Contact am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Commentary This is one of Disertori's most elaborate compositions, in an excellent proof impression prior to the completion of the inscription in the lower margin. It is one of three planet subjects, the others being Mars and Mercury, all with the same approximate composition. This is, however, the most engaging, with its view of S. Gimignano in the midst of an intramural war. The towers of the medieval city were supposed to have been constructed as acts of rivalry among its wealthy resident families, but the idea of siege engines, flaming barrages from catapults, and executed traitors seems to have been Disertori's fantasy. Were hostilities provoked by rape, adultery, and other acts of illicit love, sparked by the planetary goddess above? The inscription in a somewhat garbled Latin claims, however, that Venus will bring peace: "[as translated into Italian in the catalogue raisonne] Salve o Venere cacciatrice di bellezza, rinata in cielo dalla stella soave per portare pace nella bella città." Drawings survive that show that Disertori derived the siege engines and other instruments of war from several medieval visual sources, including the Paris 1483 edition of Valturio's "De re militari" and manuscripts in Italian archives. The archaism is characteristic: Disertori was also a great student of early music, and his personal collection of books, manuscripts, scores, and instruments is still preserved, in Il Fondo "Benvenuto Disertori" of the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, in Milan. Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
