Description
‘Pomona and Vertumnus’ by Sarah Boyce
Artist: Sarah Boyce
Title: ‘Pomona and Vertumnus’
Medium: Watercolour, gouache, and ink on Fabriano paper
Dimensions: 18″ x 11.5″
Framing: Unframed
Year of Creation: 2022
About the Artwork:
“Pomona is the Roman goddess of gardens, orchards, and fruiting trees. She was devoted to caring for her orchards, and was uninterested in romantic relationships. Within the confines of her garden, she sought to protect herself from aggressive suitors. Vertumnus, god of vegetation and changing seasons, entered the garden disguised as an elderly woman to gain Pomona’s trust. When he revealed his true face and true intentions to her, she was overcome and agreed to be with him. The tale of these two deities is presented as a love story. But, as Vertumnus persuades Pomona through disguise and trickery, there remains the less than consensual element of this narrative with his approach to winning her over. This vignette from Ovid’s Metamorphoses is filled with comparisons of the female form to landscape, flora, and ripe fruit, relating Pomona to landscape to be subjugated, or fruit to be harvested. Our own disrespect of landscape and abuse of resources has led to rising temperatures, the decline of bee colonies, and other issues which will have severe consequences for our ecosystem. I’ve chosen to depict Vertumnus as being closer to his predecessor, the Etruscan underworld god, Voltumna, and Pomona as a goddess with more agency, protective of her orchards, boundaries, and of the undisturbed landscape.” – Sarah Boyce
About the Artist:
(Artist Bio)
Sarah Boyce (Garlands & Gravestones) is a painter and illustrator from Michigan, living in Washington, DC. Her work explores imagery and folklore related to holidays, the changing seasons, and our relationship to the natural world. With equal interest in classical painting and imagery from popular culture, she is particularly influenced by horror films, Halloween, memento mori artwork, still life painting, and ancient mythology. She received a BFA from Western Michigan University and an MFA from the University of Memphis.