Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00010645Mars, Minerva, Venus, and Cupid
About the Artwork
Mars, the god of war, chooses Minerva over Venus, goddesses representing Virtue and Vice. The subject was common in antiquity, although the male figure traditionally represents Hercules. The snake passing from Minerva to Mars lionizes wisdom, perhaps indicating that the patron, who has yet to be identified, connected the idea of a difficult choice to a specific military or political problem.
Inscriptions
VALERIUS·VI·F
Provenance
Sold, Christie's, London, King Street, December 6, 2006, lot 90, to Guglielo Melodia. Guglielmo Melodia (London, England), sold, Sotheby's, London, December 2, 2008, lot 35, to the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Valerio Belli (Italian, c. 1468–1546)
- Date
- early 1500s
- Medium
- rock crystal intaglio, gilded from reverse with gold and silver, backed with lapis lazuli, mounted in a gold pendant
- Dimensions
- Overall: 6 cm (2 3/8 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Accession no.
- 2008.147
More by Valerio Belli in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00010645
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