Mercury playing the flute as Argus falls asleep and Mercury slaying Argus, a village and a river valley beyond

The present lot belongs to a group of miniature paintings on vellum, executed by the artist in the 1580's in Antwerp, notable examples of which are the seven works in the Gemäldegalerie Dresden (Gemäldegalerie Dresden, Alte Meister, 1992, pp.123/5, nos822/30, with ills.). C. van Mander, Het Schilderboeck, etc., ed. 1995. p.263, records that this speciality was developed by the artist after his work had been faked. This obliged him to protect his position by producing works which could not be copied. Because of their small scale and their meticulous execution, miniatures could not be copied.
The subject is taken from Ovid, Metamorphoses, I:668-721.