(Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
Meleager presenting the head of the Calydonian boar to Atalanta,
oil on panel, 68.3 x 68 cm, framed

On the reverse the brand mark of the Guild of Saint Luke, Antwerp, two hands and a castle, and the panel maker’s mark of François de Bont (active in Antwerp 1637–1650). A dendrochronological report by Pascale Fraiture suggests a felling date of 1629 and estimates the date of fabrication of the panel at 1635.

Provenance:
Collection of Georg Andreas Reimer (1776–1842), Berlin;
Collection of Professor Lipps, Munich (circa 1928);
Private collection, Belgium

Literature:
L. Burchard, Rubens, Van Dyck und ihr Kreis, in: G. Glück, Gesammelte Aufsätze, Vienna 1933, p. 397

The present painting is a smaller workshop version of Meleager and Atalanta (circa 1635) in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich (formerly Electoral Picture Gallery, Schleissheim Palace). Atalanta, a famous huntress of Greek mythology, and Meleager, the son of King Oeneus of Calydon, took part in the hunt of the Calydonian Boar, sent by Artemis as a punishment following the king’s failure to perform a sacrifice in her honour. The present painting shows Meleager presenting the head of the killed boar to his beloved Atalanta, with Cupid as a mediator between Meleager’s courtship and Atalanta’s timid withdrawal.

Leo van Puyvelde confirmed the present painting as an autograph work by Peter Paul Rubens (1963, certificate in photocopy).