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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Gallery Text

In 1584, as Spanish troops were preparing to crush the revolt against the Habsburg rule in the city of Antwerp, Hans Bol joined thousands of Flemish refugees who were immigrating to the Dutch Republic. He brought with him his particularly fine brand of miniature watercolor, which combined imaginary landscapes with biblical or mythological narratives. In this late but exquisite example of his work, Bol depicted the tale of Cephalus and Procris—a pair of ill-fated lovers from Ovid’s Metamorphoses—in a lush forest interior. Minute images of Cephalus hunting and such attractive details as birds standing by the creek draw the viewer’s gaze into the background and emphasize the seemingly endless recession of the landscape. Rendered in vibrant tones of magenta, blue, and gold, the figures in the foreground illustrate the tragic finale of the Ovidian narrative, as Cephalus is seen accidentally killing his wife with his unerring spear, which she had gifted him.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2023.626
People
Hans Bol, Netherlandish (Mechelen, Belgium 1534 - 1593 Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Title
Landscape with Cephalus and Procris
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1591
Culture
Netherlandish
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/94413

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor and shell gold over black chalk on antique laid paper mounted overall to wood panel; framing lines in shell gold and dark red opaque watercolor
Dimensions
14 × 21.2 cm (5 1/2 × 8 3/8 in.)
Framed: 20.1 × 27.1 × 3 cm (7 15/16 × 10 11/16 × 1 3/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: Signed, on tree at left, in shell gold: .HANS.BOL./.1591
  • inscription: Back of panel, center, carved into wood: R
  • label: Back of panel, top center, with handwritten text in brown ink: 120.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Duits family collection, London. [John and Stephen Somerville, London], sold; to George Abrams, Boston, 2003, gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2023

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
The Maida and George Abrams Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gift of George Abrams in memory of Robert H. Weiss, Harvard College '54
Accession Year
2023
Object Number
2023.626
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

Subjects and Contexts

  • Dutch, Flemish, & Netherlandish Drawings

Related Digital Tours

Verification Level

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