Focus on this artwork and discuss the Subject and composition.
The scene depicts an open woodland temple with an ancient Venus statue at its centre. The ruined building is flanked by trees and has a set of stairs leading to a pool, where water flows from four fountains. The fountains furthest to the sides are decorated with statues: to the left one of a sitting Venus, and to the right one of Mercury fastening his sandals. A blurry group of six women in 18th-century clothes stand at the top of the stairs. To the bottom left, next to the Venus statue, a sitting woman dries her feet in front of a maid. In the pool two nude women play in the shallow water.
The appearance of the temple is likely inspired by the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, the Macellum of Pozzuoli (then thought to be a temple of Jupiter Serapis), and possibly Donato Bramante's Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio. The central statue is based on an ancient model, and those on the sides are based on sculptures by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714–1785). The woman drying herself follows a painting by François Boucher (1703–1770). The nudes were inspired by Claude Joseph Vernet (1714– 789), who had populated timeless Italian marine views with nude women.
Temple of Vesta temple of Jupiter Serapis Jean-Baptiste Pigalle Claude Joseph Vernet Mercury François Boucher Venus Tivoli San Pietro in Montorio Macellum of Pozzuoli Donato Bramante