Splendid 17th century Flemish painting. Oil work on canvas depicting a mythological subject of great charm, Meleager offers the boar's head to Atalanta. The Moirae had predicted that Meleager would live until a log of wood was consumed and so his mother Althaea kept him safe in a chest. The father, Oineus, had forgotten to honor Artemis after a lucky harvest. Le Dea takes revenge by sending a gigantic boar that devastates the fields and kills those who leave the city walls. To defeat the monster, Oineo gathers the greatest heroes of the time, including Atalanta, an incredible huntress who infatuated Meleager. She was the first to wound the animal but Meleager himself took care of killing it with a javelin blow. Out of gratitude or love, the boy gave the boar's head and skin as a trophy to Atalanta. A dispute arose with his uncles and Meleager reacted by killing them. Her mother Altea, as soon as she learned that her son had killed her brothers, took the log of wood and placed it on a brazier. A work of notable pictorial quality inspired by a canvas by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), certainly taking the protagonists of the story as a model but immersing them in an Arcadian landscape of Flemish taste not present in the original composition. Spectacular 19th century frame in carved and gilded wood, with some drops in gilding and signs of aging (see photo). Painting already restored with relining, replacement of the frame and recovery of color in small spots. Overall in good state of conservation. Painting light H 83 x W 62 cm.
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SILVER Seller in Cuneo, Italy
