Is There An Art Historian In The House?

[drplokta]

Or can anyone else tell me why Sir Joshua Reynolds painted a work entitled "Venus Chiding Cupid for Learning to Cast Accounts"? Which is hanging in Kenwood House, just north of Hampstead Heath. And yes, it's exactly what the title implies -- Cupid holding what looks suspiciously like a spreadsheet (pre-computer variety) is being told off by Venus. Which begs a whole host of questions, like why Cupid was considering such a drastic career change and what exactly Venus objects to about accountancy.

Comments

[redbird]

Absent the title, the small reproduction I found by googling doesn't make it at all clear that she's chiding him--though that is very clearly a spreadsheet.

My only thought is that she might have objected, not to accountancy per se, but to the idea that she'd have to find a new assistant.