Hans (Johannes) Rottenhammer the Elder (1564 Munich - 1625 Augsburg) Circle/Successors Venus and Mars In the present painting, the depiction of the mythological narrative with its erotic connotations is centred entirely on the two main figures - the goddess of love Venus, although married to Vulcanus, is about to commit adultery with Mars, the god of war. This group of figures with the resting, already completely undressed Venus, to whom Mars has put his arm around his shoulder, and the kneeling god of love Cupid, to whom Mars is only loosening his sandals, is known from several versions, including laterally inverted, larger, more complex compositions together with Vulcan and other figures: among others in the Städt. Kunstsammlungen Augsburg (1605, from the Alte Pinakothek in Munich) and in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (1604). Rottenhammer, one of the most important German Mannerist and early Baroque painters, went to Venice in 1589 and lived in Rome in 1594/95. There he met Paul Bril and Jan Brueghel the Elder, with whom he worked congenially from then on, later joined by Palma il Giovane, Hendrik van Balen and Adam Elsheimer. From 1600 onwards, he cultivated contacts with the Prague court, especially with Emperor Rudolf II, who acquired the "Feast of the Gods", among other works, for the imperial collections. In his own workshop in Venice and after his return to Germany from 1606 in Augsburg, he specialised in small-format copper plates, which became sought-after, valuable objects on the flourishing European art market. His clients and collectors from the imperial court included Count Ernst von Holstein-Schaumburg, the Fugger family and Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria. Oil on canvas, double; 58 cm x 74.5 cm. Rococo frame. Circle or follower of Hans (Johannes) Rottenhamer the Elder (1564 -1625). Oil on canvas, relined.