17C Woman as Summer by Grégoire Huret (French, 1606-1670)

 

Summer by Grégoire Huret (French, 1606-1670)

17C Woman portrayed as Ver Anonymous, etched by Claes Visscher (1586-1652) II

 

Ver Anonymous, etched by Claes Visscher (1586-1652) II

17C Woman in Summer by Italian Printmaker Alessandro Temini active 1650

 

17C Woman in Summer by Italian Printmaker Alessandro Temini active 1650

17C Summer Myth of Pomona & Vertumnus - Gardens, Orchards, & Finding Love

Vertumnus & Pomona by Frans van Mieris the Younger (1689 - 1763)

Pomona was the beautiful goddess of fruitful abundance in ancient Roman religion & myth. Pomona was said to be a wood nymph. The name Pomona comes from the Latin word pomum, "fruit," specifically orchard fruit. She was said to be  a part of the Numia, the guardian spirits who watch over people, places, or homes. While Pomona watches over & protects fruit trees & cares for their cultivation, she is not actually associated with the harvest of fruit itself, but with tending the flourishing of the fruit trees. In artistic depictions she is generally shown with a platter of fruit or a cornucopia & perhaps her pruning knife

Vertumnus & Pomona in a Garden by Adriaen van de Velde  (1636–1672)

Pomona, the alluring wood nymph, actually cared nothing for the wild woods but cared only for her well-cultivated fruit filled gardens & orchards. And Pomona had a thing about men. She fenced her garden orchards, so the rude young men couldn't trample her plants & vines. She also kept her orchards enclosed, because she wanted to keep away the men who were attracted to her good looks. Even dancing satyrs(a cross between a man & a goat) were attracted to her beauty. Despite the fact that she preferred to be alone to care & nurture her trees, this beauty was continually besieged by suitors, in particular one persistent god named Vertumnus. Vertumnus had the ability to take different human guises & made numerous attempts to woo Pomona, but she turned him away each time.
 Vertumnus & Pomona by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743)

The god Vertumus caught on to Pomona's aversion to men in her orchards & in her life generally. In Roman mythology, Vertumnus, the young, handsome god of changing seasons & patron of fruits, determined to win over Pomona.  He could change his form at will according to Ovid's Metamorphoses (xiv).  He came to her in various male disguises, which included, a reaper, an apple picker, a fisher, a solider, & more. Even with the disguises, she still never paid him the slightest bit of attention. One day Vertumnus tried a disguise as an old women. And Pomona finally allowed him to enter her garden, where he pretended to be interested in her fruit. But he finally told her he was more exquisite than her crops. After saying that, he kissed her passionately, but it wasn't enough. Vertumnus kept trying to sway her by telling her a story of a young women who rejected a boy who loved her; in despair, the boy killed hung himself, & Venus punished the girl by turning her to stone. This narrative warning of the extreme dangers of rejecting a suitor (the embedded tale of Iphis & Anaxarete) still did not seduce her. It just didn't work, of course. He then realized that it was the feminine disguise didn't work & tore it off.  It wasn't until Vertumnus appeared before her in his full manliness (apparently quite a good looking male specimen), that Pomona finally gave in to his inviting male charms. Vertumnus is a god of gardens & orchards & so it appears they were a match made in heaven. To his surprise, she fell in love with his manly wiles, & they became the ultimate loving couple working & playing in gardens & orchards together from then on.

Pomona by Hendrick Bloemaert (1602-1672)

The tale of Vertumnus & Pomona has been said to be the only purely Latin tale in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The subject of Vertumnus & Pomona appealed to European sculptors & painters of the 16th through the 18th centuries, providing a disguised erotic subtext in a scenario that contrasted youthful female beauty with an aged old woman. But it wasn't the old woman that ultimately won the day. In narrating the tale in the Metamorphoses, Ovid observed that the kind of kisses given by Vertumnus were never given by an old woman.  In Ovid's myth, Pomona scorned the love of the woodland gods Silvanus & Picus, but finally married the brutally handsome Vertumnus. She & Vertumnus were celebrated in  an annual Roman festival on August 13. There is a grove that is dedicated to her called the Pomonal, located not far from Ostia, the ancient port of Rome. Unlike many other Roman goddesses & gods, Pomona does not have a Greek counterpart, though she is often associated with Demeter.

Vertumnus & Pomona by Frans Bartholomeus Douven (1688-1726

Vertumnus & Pomona Caspar Netscher (1639-1684)

Vertumnus & Pomona by Aert de Gelde (1665-1727)

Vertumnus & Pomona by Abraham Bloemaert (1566 - 1651)

Vertumnus & Pomona with her Pruning Knife 1630 by Paulus Moreelse (1571-1638)

Vertumnus & Pomona  Roman god of seasons, and the goddess of fruit and gardens. 1683 David Teniers the Elder.

Vertumnus & Pomona  Juan van der Hamen (1596-1631)

Vertumnus & Pomona by Ferdinand Baltasars Pain (1616 - 1680)

Vertumnus & Pomona by Circle of  Caspar Netscher (c. 1635-1684)

Vertumnus & Pomona by Circle Pieter de Grebber or Pieter Fransz de Grebber (c.1600–1652/3) a Dutch Golden Age painter.

17C Spring Lover presents a fragrant new Summer Rose to a Woman by Jeremiasz Flack (active 1656 -1677)

Sense of Smell. A Lover presents a fragrant Summer Rose to a Woman by Jeremiasz Falck (active 1656 -1677) engraver

19C Myth - Goddess Flora - Symbol of Spring

.

Gustave Jean Jacquet (French artist, 1846-1909) Flora

20C Spring by Kees van Dongen 1877-1968

1908 Kees van Dongen (Dutch artist, 1877-1968) Spring

19C Spring Idyll by George Henry Boughton (1833–1905)

George Henry Boughton (American artist, 1833–1905) Spring Idyll (Hoping this is the most accurate of the several attributions.)

17C Spring Flowers are Blooming by William Marshall (1617-1649)

William Marshall (British printmaker, 1617-1649) Woman with a Flower Basket

19C Spring by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902)

James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French artist, 1836-1902) Springtime

19C Spring Allegory by Alexandre Bluhm (fl. mid-19C)

19C Spring Allegory by Alexandre Bluhm (fl. mid-19C)

18C Spring Allegory from the Italian School

18C Spring Allegory from the Italian School

19C Allegory of Spring by Nathanael Schmitt (1847-1918) in 1871

19C Allegory of Spring by Nathanael Schmitt (1847-1918) in 1871

17C Spring Allegory with a Garden by Wenceslaus Hollar 1607-1677

Wenceslaus Hollar (Czech artist, 1607-1677)  Spring

Wenceslaus Hollar was born in 1607, the son of an upper middle-class civic official. He left his native Prague at age 20, and likely studied in Frankfurt under Matthaus Merian. His 1st book of etchings was published in 1635, in Cologne, when Hollar was 28. The following year he came to the attention of the art collector the Earl of Arundel who was making an official visit to the continent, & Hollar subsequently became a part of his household, settling in England early in 1637. He remained in England during the beginning of the English Civil War period; but left London for Antwerp in 1642, where he continued to work on a variety of projects. In 1652, he returned to England, working on a number of large projects for the publisher John Ogilby & Sir William Dugdale. Hollar was in London during the Great Fire of 1666, & remains most famous for his scenes of the city before & after the fire. He a skilled etcher, which is remarkable given that he was almost blind in one eye. Hollar died in London on 25 March 1677. By his life's end, he had produced nearly 3000 separate etchings.

18C Spring From Allegories of the 4 Seasons by Hyacinthe Collin de Vermont (1693- 1761)

 

18C Spring From Allegories of the 4 Seasons by Hyacinthe Collin de Vermont (1693- 1761)