Ver [Spring]

Item Info

Title:
Ver [Spring]
Date:
circa 1675 to circa 1699
Contributor:
Description:
Ver [Spring] shows four male figures representing birth/childhood: an infant emerging from the womb, a boy seven months old, a boy three years old, and a boy 14 years old; seated on the right is a female figure, age seven, wearing a helmet and holding a spear, possibly associated with the goddess Minerva. The three-year-old and the 14-year-old both hold flasks, one of which is labeled "phlegma," (the humor phlegm); within the branches of the almond and mulberry trees that flank the figures are faces representing the north and south winds blowing, with the air currents labeled to show which diseases they are thought to carry. The lush background landscape is populated by animals: rabbit, fox, sheep, cow, stag, and pig; and a pair of swallows carry the title banner. The sun in the top left corner lifts to reveal four layers illustrating eye anatomy from the side; the moon in the top right corner contains five layers showing the eye from the front. The infant in the lower left corner has two flaps, one showing the mouth and head, the other showing interior of abdomen; below are three circular layers showing the uterus, presumably originally covered by a map of Europe (now lost); the heads of the three-year-old boy, the seven-month-old boy, and the mythological figure each have one flap, showing teeth. In the lower right corner is a circular celestial map of the constellations of the northern hemisphere covering nine layers of the interior of the skull.
Subject:
Format:
Publisher:
[Europe] : [Publisher not identified], [late 17th century?]
Language:
Extent:
1 print : copper engravings on laid paper ; plate marks 46 x 36 cm or smaller
Digital Collection:
Four Seasons (Engravings)
Catalog Record:
https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE002065197
Provenance:
  • Ownership history: Rubenstein Library copy 1: Previously in the collection of London surgeon Sir D'Arcy Power (1855-1941), and sold at auction June 9, 1941 by Sotheby & Co.; later acquired by bookseller Henry Schuman (1899-1962), who sold the prints to former owner Josiah C. Trent.
  • Ownership history: Rubenstein Library copy 1: Acquired as part of the Josiah C. Trent Collection (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)
  • Rubenstein Library copy 1: Each print mounted on later gray paste-board backing, with fragments of 17th-century English handwriting visible.
  • Ownership history: Rubenstein Library copy 1: Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collections.
  • Rubenstein Library copy 1: Detectable losses: circular element, presumed map of Europe (lower left corner of Ver); moon (upper right corner of Aestas), "modesty" leaf over genitals of male figure (Aestas); circular element, presumed map of Africa (lower right corner of Autumnus); "modesty" leaves over genitals of both figures (Autumnus).
Referenced In:
  • Horstmanshoff, H.F.J. Four seasons of human life.
  • Carlino, A. Paper bodies, cat. 57
  • Hansen, J.V. The physician's art, pages 48-49
  • Cazort, M. The ingenious machine of nature, pages 173-178
  • Sotheby & Co. (London, England). Catalogue of valuable books, manuscripts and autograph letters ... which will be sold by auction ... on Monday, the 9th of June, 1941, and two following days, lot 166A
Rights:
Free Re-Use
Public Domain
Identifier:
  • 002065197
  • seast001001
  • ark:/87924/r4b85j591
  • b46121cc-52fc-4efe-9442-e78fbe6fa32b
Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4b85j591
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