Nymphs bathing

Nymphs at the Bath, c. 1600

Oil on canvasexpand_more

The Special Arts Reserve Fundexpand_more  70.70

During the sixteenth century, the classical tradition of pastorali was revived. These were theatrical dramas in which the pleasures and pastimes of the rustic world were idealized and glorified. Scarsellino may have intended to invoke pictorially the spirit and ambience of these popular pastoral plays. His bathers are Naiads, the nymphs of bodies of fresh water, worshiped as goddesses of fertility and growth in Greek mythology.

Ippolito Scarsella was the most important painter in Ferrara during the last phase of its Golden Age of painting. His landscapes of both sacred and secular themes anticipate the landscape painting tradition of the seventeenth century.

Details
Title
Nymphs at the Bath
Artist Life
Italian (Ferrara), 1551 - 1620
Role
Artist
Accession Number
70.70
Curator Approved

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Nymphs bathing