Attributed to Charles Victoire Moench (French 1787-1867) Vertumnus & Pomona, oil on panel, framed. Measurements 83 x 67 cm, frame 102 x 85 cm.
Label verso: for Arnold Wiggins and sons picture framers and a wax seal verso bottom
Provenance: previously sold at Christies Old Master Pictures in London, July 2000, lot 179
The tale of Vertumnus and Pomona is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Vertumnus is a god of the seasons, gardens and fruit trees who was enamoured with Pomona, a beautiful wood nymph who dedicated herself to cultivating her orchard and rejecting all potential suitors. He disguised himself as an old woman in order to gain entry to Pomona's orchard and sought to convince her to choose the youthful and handsome deity Vertumnus. He then transforms and reveals himself in his true form to woo her.
Please note there is an additional 20% chargeable on the hammer price for this lot