Time Defeated by Love, Beauty and Hope or Allegory of Time and Beauty is a 1627 oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Simon Vouet. It is held in the Museo del Prado, in Madrid, which bought it in London in 1954.[1]
| Time Defeated by Love, Beauty and Hope | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Simon Vouet |
| Year | 1627 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 107 cm × 142 cm (42 in × 56 in) |
| Location | Museo del Prado, Madrid |
Description
editThe titan Cronus is personified as the inexorable Time that devours everything, only occasionally stopped or defeated by Love, Beauty and Hope. The allegory is shown in a somewhat humorous and jovial way.[2]
Time, with the scythe of death and an hourglass, is brought down by Beauty and Hope, helped by some putti, who attack the old man on the ground, in a humorous way, biting and plucking his wings. A wreath of flowers identifies Hope, wearing a brown dress, who uses an anchor, while a naked and smiling Beauty, for whom Vouet is believed to have used his wife, Virginia Vezzi, as a model, helds a spear in his direction, and is also pulling out some of his hair. The scene has for background a rock and some trees while to the right extends a landscape with the sea visible in the distance.[3]
References
edit- ^ Time Defeated by Love, Beauty and Hope, Prado Museum (Spanish)
- ^ VV. AA., Mitología clásica e iconografía cristiana, 2010, R. Areces, p. 45 (Spanish) ISBN 978-84-8004-942-9
- ^ Time Defeated by Love, Beauty and Hope, Prado Museum (Spanish)