Allegory of Summer

From the early 15th century, in Netherlandish art there were painted allegories of the individual months or seasons. Summer is personified here by the female figure of a “beautiful gardener” with attributes of Ceres, the ancient goddess of fertility and crops. The artist has carefully arranged the summer fruits and vegetables on the ground in the garden, while placing an impressively composed bouquet of lilies, roses, tulips and anemones on a Renaissance table. In the background there is an evident contrast between the agricultural fields and the decorative garden of a mannerist palace.

Ivan Rusina ● 111 diel zo zbierok Slovenskej národnej galérie