The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis

Artist Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem (Dutch, 1562–1638)

Date1597

Mediumoil on board

Dimensionsboard: 23.7 x 30.2 cm (9 5/16 x 11 7/8 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineCharlotte E.W. Buffington Fund

Terms

Object number1980.14

Label TextThe wedding of the mortal Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis appears in the upper right. Eris, the goddess of strife and chaos, flies away at left, having thrown down a golden apple amongst the attendees with the words “for the most beautiful one.” In the background, Paris, the prince of Troy, decides who among the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite should receive the inscribed fruit, setting off a chain of events leading to the Trojan War. A gathering of the gods, not tied explicitly to the narrative, appears in the foreground. These multiple, layered elements appealed to learned audiences familiar with the myth and eager to puzzle out the story. This gallery features a remarkable group of three works by the painter Cornelis van Haarlem, ranging from this early work to the enormous canvas on the opposite wall dated late in his career. Together, these paintings demonstrate the significant changes taking place in the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands, one of the hotbeds of new ideas in painting at the turn of the century.ProvenanceProbably collection of Willem Jacobsz, Amsterdam, 1604; Cornelis van Ryckevorsel sale, The Hague, no. 10, April 9, 1778; sold to Reyers; M. le Chevalier Mino sale, Paris, no. 73, October 13, 1817; sold to Destouches; collection of Jacques Monnier, Rouen, 1914; Marshall Spink (art dealer), London, 1971; Robert Noortman Gallery, London, 1979; purchased by the museum, 1980.

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