Amyntas Rewarded by the Dryad for Saving the Oak
Artist: Francesco Caucig (Slovenian, 1755-1828)
Date: c. 1809
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, New York, NY, United States
Description
This painting represents a scene from Idyllen (1756) by Swiss author Salomon Gessner. These pastoral tales, loosely based on the poetry of Theocritus, tell the stories of shepherds and shepherdess in a distant, simpler past ruled by the gods of Greek mythology.
One concerns the shepherd Amyntas, who, while working in the forest, notices that the earth around the base of an oak tree has eroded. To secure its safety, he builds a protective dam and covers the roots.
Depicted in this work is the moment when the dryad, a guardian nymph residing in the tree, emerges to thank him for his kindness. She offers a reward and, taken aback, Amyntas asks only for the good health of his neighbor Palemon. She fulfills his wish and, impressed with his virtue, grants his flocks, trees, and fields permanent good fortune.
