Paris Bordone 

A Mythological Scene

Venice, the 1530s

Oil on wood

41.7 x 96.3 cm

In this pastoral (countryside) scene, women busily harvest the land and pick fruit from a tree. The landscape recedes into a hue of light blues and greens that add depth to the scene. This is contrasted by the vibrancy of colours in the foreground, which are lush and glossy. A gust of wind dances through the landscape, creating movement in the fabrics, grass, and leaves.

Bordone was particularly passionate about music and nature. In the centre of the composition, a seated man puts aside his stringed instrument to receive a flora crown. The instrument is known as a lira di braccia and was used by poet-musicians in Renaissance Italy.

The panel may have been part of a cassone (wedding chest), or a wall decoration. It has been suggested that this scene depicts a specific mythological event, perhaps a tale from Ovid’s (43-17 BC) famous text, Metamorphoses, about Apollo or Orpheus. This is less likely when we consider Bordone’s fondness for depicting generic mythological scenes aimed purely at delighting the viewer rather than conveying an individual story.

Purchased 1961 (No.61.3)

Further reading:

Barolsky, Paul, ‘As in Ovid, So in Renaissance Art’, Renaissance Quarterly, 51, 1998, pp. 451-74.

Donati, Andrea, Paris Bordone: Catalogo ragionato, Soncino, 2014, p. 193.

Fallows, David and Tess Knighton (eds.), Companion to Medieval and Renaissance Music, Berkeley, 1997, p. 396.

Mann, Judith, ‘Paris Bordone’, in Samuel H. Kress Study Collection at the University of Missouri, ed. Norman E. Land, London, 1999, pp. 66-71.

Martineau, Jane and Charles Hope, Genius of Venus 1500-1600, (exh. cat., RA), London, 1983, p. 154.

Rosand, David, ‘Giorgione, Venice, and the Pastoral Vision’, in Places of Delight: The Pastoral Landscape, ed. Robert Cafritz, Washington, 1988, pp. 21-81.