Artwork

The Trojans Building the Temple to Venus and Making Offerings at Anchises's Grave in Sicily

The Trojans Building the Temple to Venus and Making Offerings at Anchises's Grave in Sicily is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Dosso Dossi. It dates from 1520 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

Dosso Dossi’s oil on canvas, painted around 1520, depicts a mythological episode titled The Trojans Building the Temple to Venus and Making Offerings at Anchores’s Grave in Sicily. A multitude of figures occupies a rolling, verdant landscape, centered on a wooden coffin being carried, while a partially erected temple and a distant castle frame the scene.

Subject & Meaning

The composition combines two episodes from the Trojan saga: the construction of a shrine to Venus and the ritual offering at the tomb of Anchores, the Trojan hero’s father. The solemn procession of the coffin and the surrounding celebrants suggest reverence for ancestry and the divine, reflecting Renaissance interest in classical narratives and moral exempla.

Technique & Style

Dossi employs a palette of bright reds, blues, and greens, softened by atmospheric shading that models the hills and figures. Layered brushwork creates depth, while chiaroscuro highlights the central coffin and the emerging temple, giving the work a sense of three‑dimensional space within the pastoral setting.

History & Provenance

Created in the early sixteenth century, the painting was likely commissioned for a private collector interested in mythological subjects. It entered public view through later museum acquisitions, though specific ownership records before the nineteenth century remain sparse.

Context

The work reflects the Ferrarese court’s taste for elaborate mythological scenes, a hallmark of Dosso Dossi’s career. Its blend of narrative detail and decorative color aligns with the broader Italian Renaissance trend of integrating classical stories into sumptuous visual spectacles.