Venus and Adonis Attributable to Jean V Mussard's workshop, o. 2870, circa 1730. Jean V Mussard 1681 - 1754 One of the best enamel painters of the early 18th century, he was the son of Jean IV. He began his career as a goldsmith and became a Master on December 7, 1699. He later became a painter on enamel, in which discipline he was influenced by the style of the Frères Huaud. He went into partnership with his son Jean-Antoine and trained several pupils, among them Gabriel Fontaine, André Oettner, and in 1712, Germain Colladon. Two of his best-known subjects are "Roman Charity" and "Religious Scene". H s signature appears as: "Mussard", "Jean Mussard pinx", Mussard pinx". "Dictionnaire des Horlogers Genevois" by Osvaldo Patrizzi, Antiquorum Editions, Geneva, 1998. Venus and Adonis Ovid states that Venus, showing a mirror to Adonis, said "your youth, and the beauty that charms Venus, will not touch the hearts of lions and bristly boars", but Adonis did not listen and went hunting. He died, having been attacked by a wild boar. Venus, overcome with despair, fashioned a flower from the blood of his wounds - the red anemone, which blooms briefly each year and then dies.