(Rotterdam 1612-after 1657 Flanders) Meleager handing Atalanta the head of the Calydonian boar, oil on panel, 38.7 x 31.8 cm, framed

Provenance: From the collection of the art historian and Rubens specialist, Professor Julius Held. Literature: R. A. d’Hulst, Pieter Crijnse Volmarijn een Rotterdamse Navolger van de Antwerpse Schilderschool uit de 17de eeuw, in: Mededelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie vor Wetenschapen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van Belgie, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 1ff. Atalanta, a famous huntswoman from Greek mythology, and Meleager, son of King Oineus of Calydon, took part in the hunt for the Calydonian boar, which Artemis had sent to Calydon as punishment for the King for failing to make a sacrifice to her. Atalanta and Meleager fell in love with one another. Volmarijn here depicts the scene, in which the enamoured Meleager hands his beloved Atalanta the head of the slain boar. As the nephew of Hendrick Martensz. Sorgh, Volmarijn undertook his training in his workshop, before settling in the southern Netherlands. Here he was influenced by the Antwerp school of painters. He primarily painted peasant interiors in the manner of Brouwer and Teniers. History painting is rarer in his oeuvre. One can clearly see the free, confident painting style of the artist in this picture, as well the strong influence of Peter Paul Rubens.