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Ceres and Bacchus

1600s
(Flemish, 1546–1611)
Flanders
oil on canvas
Framed: 197.2 x 133.7 x 9.5 cm (77 5/8 x 52 5/8 x 3 3/4 in.); Unframed: 163.5 x 100 cm (64 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
Holden Collection 1916.805
Location: not on view
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Description

This painting is a copy of a print by Jan Harmensz Muller (Dutch, 1571–1628), originally based on a painting by Spranger. Spranger often used the iconography of Ceres and Bacchus, two important agricultural deities. Muller's print has the Latin inscription Sine Cerere et Bacchio friget Venus, which translates to "without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus grows cold." The motto indicates that Love, represented by Venus, is impossible without the nourishment of food and drink, as the deities of grain and wine walk hand in hand.
Ceres and Bacchus

Ceres and Bacchus

1600s

Bartholomaeus Spranger

(Flemish, 1546–1611)
Flanders

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