# Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan

- By: Joachim Wtewael (Utrecht, 1566–1638)
- Date: 1610
- Medium: copper (metal), oil paint (paint)
- Classification: painting
- Dimensions: height 18.2 cm x width 13.5 cm
- Credit line: On loan from the Broere Charitable Foundation
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/SK-C-1712--82efc552a14790ef17165f694b37757c)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/6c69cf3c52a4bab3642ddf21a6dcf39a.jpg
- Who can see it: Adult profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Venus, the goddess of love, had an affair with the god of war, Mars. Her husband, the lame blacksmith Vulcan, caught them and exposed the adulterous couple to a gathering of amused gods. Mercury (the flying figure in a red cap) then offered to trade places with Mars. With his rendering of exaggerated musculature and distorted bodies, Wtewael was a leading representative of Dutch Mannerism.