Vertumnus and Pomona

The highly popular 17th-century painting subjects included Ovid´s description of the love of the god of changing seasons, Vertumnus, for the nymph Pomona (Metamorphoses XIV, 630-771). The chaste beauty succumbed to his seduction only after the god changed into an old woman talked her into yielding to his wishes. Gelder, Rembrandt´s late pupil, represented the nymph and the malicious god from close quarters. The faces and hands of his half-figures perfectly express the contrast of youth and old age. The manner of painting, the Oriental costume of Pomona and the distinct type of the woman reveal the relationship to the legacy of his renowned teacher. Until the end of the 19th century, the painting was considered to be Rembrandt´s work, which was also corroborated by a later fake signature "Rembrandt fe 1649" at the bottom right.