The William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisonné

Master record for Schaaf no. 2357

Bust of Venus and a ceramic pineapple vase on a stand

Attributed to: William Henry Fox Talbot

Created: 2 Mar 1840

Keywords: Sculpture

The sculpture and the vase have been photographed on a round tabletop.

The bust is one of the objects most photographed by Talbot and appears always to have been known as the “Bust of Venus” by the Talbot family. It was often referred to as such in inscriptions made by the likes of Lady Elisabeth Feilding. It is in fact a “Bust of Susanna”, reduced from the original full-figure marble statue by the Baroque sculptor, François du Quesnoy (1597-1643). The original is in the church of Santa Maria di Loreto, in Rome.