Ceres and Two Nymphs with a Cornucopia

Ceres and Two Nymphs with a CornucopiaModello' for a painting in the Prado, Madrid, which was one of eight pictures presented to Philip IV of Spain by Rubens on his arrival in Madrid in 1628. The Prado picture was described in 1636 as showing Ceres and two nymphs, though the identification of one of the figures as the goddess Ceres is doubtful. In the finished picture the pose of the left hand figure is changed. Held suggests a date of c. 1625. Jaff gives c. 1617.

'Il laboratorio dell'Ideale: note sulla prima attivitá di Francesco Albani tra Bologna e Roma'

In the 1650s this second theme began to predominate in his oeuvre

that the Locksmith was painted by a Neapolitan follower of Ribera: the picture is similar in format and size to Ribera's Five Senses - in particular Smell - which were painted before 1620

21 May 1963

This attribution is rejected by Lasius

courtesan and historical figure

convolvulus minor

His influence on British artists from Gainsborough to Constable was profound

The subject is taken from Genesis

it already contains some of Berchem's characteristic peasants and animals - all delicately painted

the smeared areas laid on around the girl's left eye and temple)

her eyes staring at the object of her affection