Ceres, Bacchus, Venus   and  Cupid

Staged on a cloud-bank, Bacchus raising a vine-topped staff leads a cluster of Ceres, Venus and Cupid, with cherubs flitting above. The figures form a shallow, elegant arc around a central group, set against a landscape that recedes into a pale horizon under a broad, luminous sky. The painting shows Poelenburgh’s Italianate Baroque manner, with smooth, refined brushwork, a restrained pastel palette of warm flesh tones and pale whites, and serene mythological idealization.