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Lot Essay
This work has been accepted by Dr. Anne Lowenthal as an autograph work by Joachim Wtewael; Dr. Lowenthal notes the existence of a drawing of the same composition in the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen, Berlin (inv. no. 11. 766), which may be a preparatory work, as well as of another drawing, of the same format and subject, to which the figure of Bacchus relates (ibid., inv. no. 5944).
The subject was a popular one in seventeenth-century Northern art, drawing from a quotation from Eunuchus (v. 732) by the Roman comic dramatist Terence (Publius Terentius Afer [193/83-159 B.C.]). It implied that love - personified by Venus - could not thrive without the stimuli of feasting - represented by Ceres, Goddess of Agriculture - and wine - by Bacchus, God of Wine.
The subject was a popular one in seventeenth-century Northern art, drawing from a quotation from Eunuchus (v. 732) by the Roman comic dramatist Terence (Publius Terentius Afer [193/83-159 B.C.]). It implied that love - personified by Venus - could not thrive without the stimuli of feasting - represented by Ceres, Goddess of Agriculture - and wine - by Bacchus, God of Wine.