# Mercury and Herse [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [POELENBURGH, Cornelis van]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on board, 18 x 27 cm ## Commentary Ovid \(Met. 2:708-832\) tells how three sisters, returning from the festival of Minerva and carrying her sacred baskets on their heads, were espied by Mercury who immediately fell in love with the most beautiful of them, Herse. Another of the sisters, Aglauros, was consumed with envy, and tried to prevent Mercury entering Herse's chamber when he came to her one night. He touched Aglauros with his wand and she turned to black stone, the colour of her thoughts. This painting depicts the scene when the maidens are walking outdoors, Mercury flying above them. In the background is Minerva's temple. The small painting was formerly attributed to Bartholomeus Breenbergh, a contemporary of Poelenburgh. Breenbergh's art resembles that of his peer in many respects and at times the two are difficult to separate. ## Related artworks - [Amaryllis Giving Myrtill the Price]() - [Annunciation]() - [Capriccio View of Rome with the Martyrdom of St Lawrence]() - [Children of Frederick V Prince Elector of Pfalz and King of Bohemia]() - [Figures beneath the Arches of a Classical Ruin]() - [Figures Dancing near Ruin]() - [Italianate Landscape with Dancing Figures]() - [Landscape with Diana and Callisto]() - [Landscape with Nymphs near a Grotto]() - [Landscape with Nymphs]() - [Nymph and Shepherd in Landscape]() - [Nymphs and Satyrs at the Entrance of a Grotto]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()