On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01672
- Author
- Rubens, Peter Paul (Flemish); Snyders, Frans (Flemish)
- Title
- Ceres and Pan
- Chronology
- Ca. 1615
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 177 cm x 279 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
As goddess of the Earth and
agriculture, Ceres is depicted
wearing a bundle of wheat spikes on
her head. Beside her, Pan, the god
of shepherds and herds, has a crown
of oak leaves. Ceres symbolizes
cultivated nature and Pan, wild
nature. The horn of plenty and
basket of fruit in their laps
alludes to the fecundity and
fertility of the Earth, which is
strengthened by the fruit and
vegetables strewn around
them.
This is one of the many occasions
when Rubens and Snyders worked
together. The figures are by the
former, who left the rendering of
the fruit and vegetables to
Snyders, a specialist in still life
painting.
This work was made in the early
teens of the seventeenth century,
in the period of maximum
collaboration between the two
artists. It was brought to Spain by
Rubens when he traveled there in
1628, as a present to Felipe IV. In
1636, it hung in Madrid's Alcázar
Palace.
Location on the map
