Mars, Venus and Cupid

Mars, Venus and Cupid — Marcantonio Raimondi. 1508.

Medium: Engraving in black on cream laid paper. Dimensions: Image: 29.9 × 21 cm (11 13/16 × 8 5/16 in.); Plate: 30.2 × 21.5 cm (11 15/16 × 8 1/2 in.); Sheet: 34 × 25 cm (13 7/16 × 9 7/8 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

Marcantonio Raimondi’s engraving Mars, Venus, and Cupid was one of his most sought-after works. Mars, the Roman god of war, and Venus, the goddess of love, are depicted with Cupid in front of a background inspired by Albrecht Dürer. In Roman mythology, the two gods had an affair even though Venus was married to Vulcan, the god of fire. Mars sits with his elbow on his knee as he twists his muscular body to grab Venus by the shoulder. Venus looks down and away, toward Cupid, who pushes a flaming torch, a symbol of passionate love, at her.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.