Oil on canvas. Signed lower right and dated 1734
Frame: carved and giltwood Adam style early 19th century English
Some old tears and marks to the canvas, see photographs.
HEIGHT: 133 cm (52¼")
WIDTH: 122.5 cm (48¼")
Dimensions of the outside of the frame
HEIGHT: 171 cm (67¼")
WIDTH: 161 cm (63½")
DEPTH: 5.5cm (2¼")(This mythological scene is drawn from the Metamorphoses of Roman poet Publio Ovidio Nason, one of the texts on ancient mythology that had the greatest intellectual impact on 17th-century Flemish artists. According to Ovid, Diana had sent an enormous wild boar to ravage the region of Calydon as punishment after the king failed to make the promised sacrifices to her. The king’s son, Meleager, was an experienced hunter and he gathered his most skilled colleagues to kill the beast. One of them was Atalanta, a brave huntress who was the first to wound it, making it easier for Meleager to kill it. As thanks, he gave her the bore’s head, which provoked grumbling and envy among the other hunters. Meleager’suncles were offended and, considering themselves more deserving of the trophy, they took it away from Atalanta. This infuriated Meleager who fought and killed his uncles, thus angering his mother. Her intervention led to his sudden death, fulfilling an ancient prophecy.)
£POA
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