Lot 201: DANIEL VERTANGEN

DANIEL VERTANGEN AMSTERDAM CIRCA 1600/1 - 1681/4 DEUCALION AND PYRRHA oil on copper 5 7/8 by 7 1/2 in.; 15 by 19.1 cm. Very fine craquelure near the left edge; star-shaped craquelure in the sky; otherwise, in good condition. Under UV light: a few small touch-ups at center left.

We are grateful to Marijke C. de Kinkelder of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague for identifying this painting as a work by Vertangen, and for identifying the subject.

The story is from Ovid's Metamorphoses (I:348-415); Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha were the sole survivors of a great flood that had destroyed all mankind. They were advised by an oracle to veil their heads and "throw the bones of your great mother behind you," which they interpreted to mean the rocks of Mother Earth. The rocks which Deucalion threw turned into men and those that Pyrrha threw became women, and thus a new human race was created.