Venus, Cupid, Bacchus and Ceres

Dr. Anne Lowenthal accepted the present work as an autograph painting by Joachim Wtewael, noting a relationship with a drawing of the same composition in the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, which may be a preparatory work. An additional drawing in the Kupferstichkabinett of the same format and subject relates to the figure of Bacchus.

The subject, Sine Cerere et Libero (meaning 'without food and wine, love will grow cold'), was adopted from a quotation from Eunuchus, a Roman comedy by the 2nd century BC Roman playwright Terence. It implied that love, personified by Venus, could not thrive without feasting, represented by Ceres, goddess of Agriculture, and Bacchus, God of Wine. It was a popular theme in seventeenth-century Northern art as a moralising tale against the dangers of overindulgence.