There are twenty-four paintings on this subject, replicated many times by the painter, including Venus and Cupid with a Honeycomb which belongs to the very first series that began in 1509.

[3] The divinity is a portrait of a Saxon duchess who is completely naked and holds a threadlike drape between her right arm, which rests on the tree on one side, and her right hand on the other.

The painting is regarded as an allegory of the pleasures and pains of love, as well as a possible warning of the risks of venereal disease, which was widespread among the soldiers of the continent's wars.

[7] The painting was most likely completed in 1531, as was indicated by an inscription that was once visible on the tree trunk, bearing the initials and the date of creation in the center of the composition.

The majority of their figures are submerged in dense forests under an ominous sky, which significantly foreshadows the later Romantic concept of transcendence.

[9] Venus and Cupid with the Honeycomb, like many of Cranach's later works, shows how much the artist foresaw the future and how avant-garde he was for his time, inspiring numerous painters, including Picasso, Otto Dix, and John Currin.

[10] One of the most important influences from which the painting took inspiration is the engraving 'The Dream of the Doctor' by Albrecht Dürer, characterized by the whole figure of Venus on the right and Cupid on the left.

Cranach also incorporated from this work the veil worn by the woman and the movement of her arms.,[1] Other influences, like the woodcut of the 'Triumph of the New Men over the Satyrs', also contribute to the full-length depiction of Venus without clothing, made in 1947 by Jacopo de' Barbari.

She wears an iconic hat of the time, but the Latin lines on the top right-hand corner transport the figure into the classical world.

[7] The subject of this painting is taken from the Theocritean Idyll XIX, in which the representative of pastoral poetry recounts Cupid being stung by a bee while stealing a honeycomb from the hive.

Venus' answer alludes to Cupid's explosive force, capable of leading human beings to the loss of reason or to destruction.

Bee stings correspond to the wounds caused by Cupid's arrows, which make humans victims of a painful desire for love (voluptas).

[5]The four-line inscription taken from Latin translations of Theocritus is variously attributed to Ercole Strozzi, Philip Melanchthon, or Georg Sabinus.

In the traditional title of the painting, Venus and Cupid with the Honeycomb, the "theft" element is missing, while it is instead contained in the Greek "keriokleptes".

The elegant silhouette of Dürer's characters served as the model for Cranach's chiaroscuro woodcut as an introduction to his aesthetic canons.

Cranach used a slightly lengthened figure in Venus and Cupid with the Honeycomb, as well as a dance-like step that adheres to the Flemish-Burgundian aesthetic standards of the Wittenberg court.

Due to the increasing interest of Lutheran churches in the figurative arts, Cranach had to adjust to an artistic market that was changing in this period.

Some art historians believe Cranach made the first brush strokes in the early 16th century in Wittemberg, a small town in northern Germany.

[1] According to Kristina Herrmann Fiore, the artwork was then given to Cardinal Scipione Borghese as a gift by Paduan jurist Alvise Corradini.

The picture disappeared due to curious transfers from one institution to another, and it was not found again until 1883, when it resurfaced in some records that identified the painting's real creator, Cranach.

[15] A team of engineers examined the rooms to evaluate conditions, estimating the structure's ventilation air flow rates and winter and summer heat loads.

Restoration included touching up the three middle toes on Venus' left foot and repainting a piece of the pebbled ground.

The figure's initial location is also indicated by a sequence of highly fluid lines that trace the contours of Venus' arms, legs, and some of her torso, which all appear to have been drawn with a paintbrush.

[16] Analysis shows The painter used a limited palette in terms of the colours employed and a preference for straightforward combinations and layerings.

With regard to the representation of the terrain, the author chose to initially draw the outlines of the stones and then fill them in with a grey and white stain, after which shadows were added and the edges were blurred with black paint.

To highlight Venus' temple veins, black was used, while for her lips a vermilion colour made from madder (Rubia tinctoria).