Beschrijving
From the ‘Tafereel of beschryving van den prachtigen tempel der zang-godinnen…’, also known as ‘Le Temple des Muses’ published in Amsterdam in 1733, containing histories drawn from Greek mythology, written by A.de la Barre de Beaumarchais with plates by Bernard Picart. The plates are all finely engraved and are composed with a central part dedicated to the illustration of the story and a larger one, framing the previous, inhabited with details inspired to the central plate. For the whole book see Booknr. 50936 [XV, p. 37-38] The nymph Clytie, in love with Helios, jealous of his new lover Leucothea, run to the father of the latter telling him of his daughter’s affair with the god. Orchamus (this is the name of the father) was so angry that he buried his own daughter alive in the sand. Helios became upset with Clytie and abandoned her definitely. So she stand in solitude in the desert among the rocks for nine days looking at the sun. After those days she was turned into a sunflower. Picart represents the nymph leaning against the rocks, naked, looking towards the sky where her lover Helios is riding his chariot in the clouds. a small putto is mourning together with the nymph who bears already the signs of her metamorphoses: upon her head are blossoming a couple of sun flowers. Signed on the lower left corner: ‘B. Picart dir.’ Lettered in four languages on the bottom: ‘CLYTIE CHANGÉE EN TOURNESOL. / Clytia change’d into a Turnesole / Clytia in eine Sonne-blumme verändert. / Clytia in een Sonne-bloeme verandert ‘. On the bottom of the engraved frame on the left: ‘B. Picart del. 1731’
