Harvard Art Museums > 2023.626: Landscape with Cephalus and Procris Drawings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Landscape with Cephalus and Procris (Hans Bol) , 2023.626,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 22, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/94413. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. 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 The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Exhibition History The Art of Drawing in the Early Dutch Golden Age, 1590–1630: Selected Works from the Abrams Collection, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/09/2017 - 01/14/2018 Subjects and Contexts Dutch, Flemish, & Netherlandish Drawings Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
