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Cymon and Iphigenia (Boccaccio, The Decameron 5.1)

Drawing
1620-30 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Bloemaert, Abraham (artist)
Place of origin
Utrecht (drawn)

In a wooded landscape, the naked figure of Iphigenia lies asleep on a piece of drapery at the base of a large tree, next to two female companions whose heads and shoulders only are visible beyond her torso. Cymon stands at centre and admires her beauty; he is dressed as a shepherd with a hat and holds a crook with both hands (there are pentiments for his left arm).


Object details

Category
Drawings
Object type
Drawing
TitleCymon and Iphigenia (Boccaccio, The Decameron 5.1) (published title)
Materials and techniques
Pen and brown ink, with brown wash and opaque white, over red and black chalks on paper
Brief description
Drawing, Cymon and Iphigenia (Boccaccio, The Decameron 5.1) by Abraham Bloemaert, Dutch school, 1620-30
Physical description
In a wooded landscape, the naked figure of Iphigenia lies asleep on a piece of drapery at the base of a large tree, next to two female companions whose heads and shoulders only are visible beyond her torso. Cymon stands at centre and admires her beauty; he is dressed as a shepherd with a hat and holds a crook with both hands (there are pentiments for his left arm).
Dimensions
  • Height: 153 mm
  • Width: 210 mm
Style
Dutch School
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • Inscribed on fragment of old mount glued onto present mount, in pencil, A Kentish Idyl. Early Sepia drawing. Reproduced in the memoir.
  • Apparently inscribed on the verso of the original mount (no longer preserved with drawing), in pencil, with the artist’s name, dates and annotation, (From the Northwick Park Coll) No. 2067
Gallery label
Mythological subjects flourished in Dutch art following the northern Republic’s official turn to Protestantism in 1580. Bloemaert made several drawings depicting the story of Cymon and Iphigenia from Boccaccio’s The Decameron. Cymon fell in love with Iphigenia after stumbling upon her sleeping in a forest. Her beauty was said to have transformed the ill-mannered Cymon into the perfect gentleman.
Object history
Bequeathed by H. H. Harrod, 1948
Bibliographic references
  • Jane Shoaf Turner and Christopher White, Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 2014), vol. 1, cat. 31, pp.74-75
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, and Department of Paintings, Accessions: 1948, Volume II, Henry Herbert Harrod Bequest, London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1957
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.67-1948

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O601810/cymon-and-iphigenia-boccaccio-the-drawing-bloemaert-abraham/
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