Object number2000.13.2
Amyntas Rewarded by the Dryad for Saving the Oak
Datec. 1809
Artist
Francesco Caucig
(Slovenian, 1755 - 1828)
CultureSlovenian
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 50 x 67 in. (127 x 170.18 cm)
Framed: 58 x 75 x 5 in. (147.32 x 190.5 x 12.7 cm)
Framed: 58 x 75 x 5 in. (147.32 x 190.5 x 12.7 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, Suzette Morton Davidson, class of 1934, Fund and Francis Woolsey and Helen Silkman Bronson, class of 1924, Fund
On View
On viewPeriod18th c / 19th c
Classification(s)
Fred R. Kline Gallery, 1998-2000;
purchase by FLLAC from Sotheby’s, New York, Sale 7458, 2000 Lot 54
Label TextThis painting represents a scene from Idyllen (1756) by Swiss author Salomon Gessner. These pastoral tales, loosely based on the poetry of Theocritus, tell the stories of shepherds and shepherdess in a distant, simpler past ruled by the gods of Greek mythology. One concerns the shepherd Amyntas, who, while working in the forest, notices that the earth around the base of an oak tree has eroded. To secure its safety, he builds a protective dam and covers the roots. Depicted in this work is the moment when the dryad, a guardian nymph residing in the tree, emerges to thank him for his kindness. She offers a reward and, taken aback, Amyntas asks only for the good health of his neighbor Palemon. She fulfills his wish and, impressed with his virtue, grants his flocks, trees, and fields permanent good fortune. The creator of the work is Francesco Caucig, a Slovenian artist born Franc Kavčič, whose international career involved activities in Vienna, Rome, Bologna, and Venice.
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