Vertumnus1.0062

François Boucher, 1703-1770, and studio, "Vertumnus and Pomona," 1757, oil on canvas, 123 3/4 x 72 1/2 in. San Francisco, Palace of the Legion of Honor, inv. no. F.A.M. 1967.11, Mildred Anna William Collection.

Boucher captures the moment in Ovid's original narrative when the Italic orchard god disguised as a crone woos Pomona in her lush orchard. This painting was made as a model for the Gobelins "Fragments from Opera" tapestry series (1.0062a). An opera performed at Versailles in 1749 had featured Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's mistress, in the role of Pomona.

Bibliography:
Standen, Edith A. 1986. "The Fragments d'Opéra: a series of Beauvais tapestries after Boucher." Met Publications. available at https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/the-fragments-dopera-the-metropolitan-museum-journal-v-21-1986

The image at right is derived from Wikimedia Commons where rights of public domain, creative commons, are cited.