Vertumnus and Pomona  1669

Gallery label: [br]Gerbrand van den Eeckhout painted the subject of Vertumnus and Pomona at least three times. In contrast to Bloemaert's treatment of the subject, Eeckhout's chastely clad Pomona downplays the inherent eroticism of the theme. Both paintings include Ovidian metaphors of fertility, including a fruit tree and a fruit-bearing vine. The carnations are symbolic ...