Die Verspottung der Ceres,

um 1640/45

Material / Technology / Carrier

Leinwand

Dimensions of the object

175,5 x 220,7 cm

Displayed

AP OG Saal IX

Department

Holländische Malerei

Genre

Malerei

Inventory number

112

Acquisition

Aus der Kurfürstlichen Galerie München

Stock

Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek München

Citation

Matthias Stom, Die Verspottung der Ceres, um 1640/45, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek München, URL: https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/en/artwork/Pdxz8EkGw5 (Last updated on 24.08.2023)

Stom, who was born in the Netherlands, spent a great part of his life in Italy, where he was a follower of Caravaggio. This candlelit night scene depicts a tale from Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses.’ Hades, the god of the underworld, has abducted Proserpina. Her clueless mother Ceres, the goddess of fertility, embarks on her tireless search. She reaches a cabin, thoroughly exhausted, where an old woman gives her some water. A boy mocks Ceres when she hastily takes a drink. To punish him, the goddess turns him into a lizard.