Hymn to Venus

About the Artwork

Louis Félix de La Rue came from a family of artists and was best known for creating designs for decorative arts, such as ceramics. This sheet—which features putti and bacchantes, the artist’s preferred subjects—likely served such a purpose, given its allover composition and focus on patterning and symmetry.

Inscriptions

verso heavily inscribed in ink and pencil

Provenance

?-1990: (C. and J. Goodfriend, New York, NY) 1990-2008: Muriel Butkin [1916-2008], Shaker Heights, OH December 2, 2019: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Quick Overview

Artist: Louis Felix de la Rue (French, 1731–1765)
Date: c. 1760–65
Medium: Pen and brown ink over red chalk (?) on antique laid paper
Dimensions: Sheet: 38.8 x 44.2 cm (15 1/4 x 17 3/8 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Accession no.: 2019.253

More by Louis Felix de la Rue in museum collections

Classical Scene with Figures Gathered around a Sacrificial Altar
Louis Felix de la Rue
ca.1760–65 · Drawing
Public collection via the Metropolitan Museum of ArtAT-00023596

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.