The Feast of Acheloüs
Peter Paul Rubens|Jan Brueghel the Elder
ca. 1615 · Oil on wood · European Paintings
Rubens and Brueghel collaborated on several mythological and religious pictures that showcased their respective skills. In this panel, Rubens designed and painted the figures and Brueghel painted everything else, revealing his gifts as a landscape and still-life painter. Here, the river god Acheloüs explains to the Greek hero Theseus that his former lover Perimele has been transformed into a distant island by Neptune so that she could remain forever within the river’s embrace. The artists combined classical learning, nudes based partly on ancient sculpture, the wonders of nature, and the mastery of craft into an encyclopedic display meant for a sophisticated collector.
- Artist
- Peter Paul Rubens|Jan Brueghel the Elder
- Date
- ca. 1615
- Medium
- Oil on wood
- Department
- European Paintings
- Credit line
- Gift of Alvin and Irwin Untermyer, in memory of their parents, 1945
