Sleeping Venus

Left unfinished at Giorgione's death from plague in 1510 and completed — at least in the landscape setting — by his pupil Titian, 'Sleeping Venus' is the prototype of the reclining female nude in Western art. The goddess lies across the full breadth of the canvas in sensual repose against a pastoral backdrop, eyes closed in serene modesty. The composition inaugurates the long line that leads to Titian's own 'Venus of Urbino' (1538), Velázquez's 'Rokeby Venus', and ultimately to Manet's 'Olympia' (1863). It is now one of the defining works of the Old Masters collection in Dresden.

Exhibition Venue

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Dresden, Germany