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Notes
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Fire is represented here by metal works made by Man (rather than nature). The scene shows Venus arming Aeneas, her mortal son. Vulcan, her heavenly, cuckolded husband, is hard to see but he is present at his blacksmith's forge. Many versions of sets of allegorical depictions of the four elements came out of the Brueghels' Antwerp studio. The sets were popular in Italy, particularly with their patron Cardinal Federico Borromeo (1564–1631), Archbishop of Milan and founder of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, and his assistant Ercole Bianchi, who enjoyed a set with naked figures. In Spain, Philip IV distributed sets among the ladies of the court. The sets evolved from an individual piece showing all the elements together in a unified scene (each bearing appropriate attributes and including a profusion of botanical and zoological detail) to four separate works.
Title
The Four Elements: Fire
Date
c.1625/1632
Medium
oil on copper
Measurements
H 47.5 x W 82.5 cm
Accession number
1257088
Acquisition method
bequeathed by Ralph Bankes, 1981
Work type
Painting
