Artwork
Venus Bringing Simples for the Wounded Aeneas
Venus Bringing Simples for the Wounded Aeneas is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Hendrick Krock. It dates from 1706 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
As indicated by its title, the work illustrates the specific narrative moment when Venus brings simples, medicinal herbs, to treat the wounded Aeneas.
The painting portrays a scene from classical mythology, focusing on the figures of Aeneas and Venus. As indicated by its title, the work illustrates the specific narrative moment when Venus brings simples, medicinal herbs, to treat the wounded Aeneas. This subject highlights the maternal devotion of the goddess Venus toward her son, the Trojan hero Aeneas, emphasizing themes of divine intervention and filial protection within the mythological tradition.
Technique & Style
Venus Bringing Simples for the Wounded Aeneas is executed in oil paint on canvas, a medium consistent with Hendrick Krock's mythological work of 1706. The canvas support measures 655.0 in height by 485.0 in width, giving the composition a tall, vertical orientation suited to the standing figures of Venus and Aeneas.
Stylistically, the work belongs to the mythological genre and reflects the Baroque handling typical of early eighteenth-century Danish painting, with Krock arranging the divine and mortal figures in a narrative tableau drawn from classical sources.
History & Provenance
The oil painting titled Venus Bringing Simples for the Wounded Aeneas was created by Hendrick Krock in 1706. Executed on canvas, the work measures 655 cm in height and 485 cm in width. It is currently part of the collection at the Statens Museum for Kunst.
The piece depicts the mythological figures Aeneas and Venus. No specific details regarding the original commission, the initial owner, or the subsequent chain of ownership prior to its current location are provided in the available records.
Venus Bringing Simples for the Wounded Aeneas is held by the Statens Museum for Kunst in Denmark, which is recorded as the work's collection and location. The painting is catalogued within the museum's holdings as an oil-on-canvas mythological work by Hendrick Krock dated 1706.
No specific accession number, acquisition date, or documented exhibition history is provided in the available sources for this painting.
Legacy
Later scholarship and museum catalogues have highlighted the painting's role in shaping 18th‑century mythological imagery, noting its compositional balance and the way it reinterprets classical narratives through a Rococo lens. The work is frequently cited in studies of Krock's oeuvre as a pivotal piece that bridged Dutch Golden Age traditions with emerging Northern European sensibilities, influencing subsequent artists who explored mythological subjects in oil. Its presence in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst has made it a reference point for exhibitions on mythological painting, contributing to a broader appreciation of Krock's technical experimentation and narrative depth.
Overview
Hendrick Krock’s 1706 oil canvas, entitled Venus Bringing Simples for the Wounded Aeneas, presents a mythological tableau in which the goddess Venus attends to the injured hero Aeneas. The composition unfolds in an open landscape, populated by attendants, a cherubic figure, and a secondary female figure, all arranged beneath a sky mottled with clouds.
Context
The painting aligns with a broader European fascination with classical mythology as moral exempla, a trend that found particular resonance in courtly circles seeking to associate royal patronage with antiquity’s noble virtues. Krock’s synthesis of Italian Baroque dynamism and emerging Rococo elegance situates the work within a transitional moment for Scandinavian visual culture.
Artist & collection
Artist
Hendrick Krock (21 July 1671 – 18 November 1738) was a Danish history painter who, from 1706, was the court painter of Frederick IV as well as his successor Christian VI.
Judecata lui Paris
The Continence of Scipio
The Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth
The Sacrifice of Isaac
Dionysus and Ariadne
The Angels Appearing to Abraham
Boreas Abducting Oreithyia, Daughter of Erechteus
The conversion of Saint Paul
Study for "An Apotheosis of a Saint" (for San Bernardino dei Morti, Milan)
Baptism of Christ
Offerings- Venus giving arms to Aeneas