Alpheus and Arethusa

CC0 Public Domain Designation

1626

Moyses van Uyttenbroeck (Dutch, c. 1590-1648)

This intimate painting depicts a scene from Ovid’s The Metamorphoses, an ancient Roman poem, in which the river god Alpheus menaces Arethusa, a nymph, as she bathes. Here, the hulking Alpheus climbs the riverbank in pursuit of the stout nymph, who looks back in fear as she flees. With his lush landscapes and unidealized figures, Uyttenbroeck belonged to the generation of artists who influenced the young Rembrandt van Rijn. Their work inspired the dramatic poses and gestures that Rembrandt adopted as a means of conveying emotion.

Status: On View, Gallery 213
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Moses van Uyttenbroeck
Title: Alpheus and Arethusa
Place: Netherlands (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1626
Medium: Oil on panel
Inscriptions: Monogrammed lower left: MVWB F / 1626
Dimensions: 45 × 58 cm (17 3/4 × 22 7/8 in.); Framed: 45.1 × 57.8 × 6.4 cm (17 3/4 × 22 3/4 × 2 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Bequest of Donald and Carol Asher
Reference Number: 2023.2778
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/257287/manifest.json

Private collection, France. Sold, Ader Picard Tajan, Paris to Johnny van Haeften, London, Dec. 12, 1988, lot 38 [Van Haeften stock number 1740]; stolen from Van Haeften, 1990 [this and the following according to email correspondence with Johnny van Haeften, Feb. 21, 2023; in curatorial object file]; recovered by the authorities; released to the insurance company; sold to a dealer in the Channel Islands; sold to Johnny van Haeften, London, Nov. 13, 1995 [Van Haeften stock number 2566]; sold to Donald and Carol Asher, Winnetka, IL, July 10, 1996; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2023.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.