Ceres (Allegory of Summer)

The portrait is one of a four-part series of the seasons, in which summer is depicted through Ceres, the Roman Goddess of agriculture and fertility. She is a mature woman, with ears of corn and poppy flowers in her hair, and carrying a scythe and huge cornucopia of wheat, vegetables and fruit. Clearly visible are corn cobs, which were imported to Europe from Mexico in the 16th century, as well as cabbage leaves, apples, figs, peaches and plums. The generous proportions of the Goddess’s body obviously reveal the strong influence of Rubens, in whose workshop Boeckhorst presumably worked.