This printed engraving, created by the workshop of Jacob Matham (c. 1571-1631), was inspired by an ancient mythological tale involving the god Vertumnus—an Etruscan deity of seasons and vegetation—and Pomona, a Roman goddess of orchards and fruits. As the two were both deities of plant life and nature, they were naturally attracted to each other. In particular, Vertumnus fell in love with his counterpart, Pomona, at first sight. Pomona, however, was totally absorbed in her agricultural duties, living in a walled-off orchard and rejecting any and all advances from male deities who sought her company. Nevertheless, Vertumnus was a patient and persistent fellow, and he decided to use all of the magical tools at his godly disposal to court Pomona. In particular, Vertumnus was a masterful shapeshifter, and he tried out all sorts of masculine physiques and appearances in hopes of catching Pomona’s attention. He approached her orchard in various disguises, such as a reaper, a haymaker, a plowman, a vineyard worker and an apple picker, only to be turned away or ignored each time. After Pomona rejected all of these personas, Vertumnus had an epiphany—if he adopted a disguise as a woman, maybe Pomona would let down her guard enough to talk. The Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) described these transformations:
“All these forms he adopted again and again to get close
to Pomona and so to enjoy the sight of her beautiful person.
One day he even put on a grey wig with a bright-coloured headscarf,
crouched down over a stick and pretended to be an old woman.”
(Ovid, Metamorphosis, 14.651-655).
Vertumnus’ elderly woman disguise worked to great effect, and he achieved his long-awaited audience with Pomona. As the story goes, the incognito god began telling the goddess that she had a godly admirer, and he went on to flatteringly describe his real self for her. After Vertumnus caught Pomona’s attention with the self-lauding gossip, he removed his shapeshifting illusion and switched back to his real form, pleasantly surprising the goddess. Pomona reportedly did not hold a grudge against Vertumnus’ deceptive icebreaker tactics, and to the contrary, the two were said to have ended up living together happily ever after. Jacob Matham’s artwork likely depicts the ending to the story, showing the couple together after Vertumnus had revealed his identity and confessed his love to Pomona.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Metamorphoses by Ovid. Translated by David Raeburn. Penguin Classics; Revised Edition, 2004.
- https://collections.lacma.org/node/171105
