The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite (1630s): Art, History and Details

The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite (1630s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Frans Francken (Flemish, 1581–1642).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Neptune—the Roman god of water—and his wife, Amphitrite, ride a chariot pulled by sea horses. Water fowl and flying fish glide in the sky above them, while in the distance a group of nymphs beckon from a grotto. Neptune’s trident represents his power over water and storms; the fish, shells, coral, and pearls carried by his subjects show his wealth.

Object facts

• Title: The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite
• Date: 1630s
• Creator attribution: Frans Francken (Flemish, 1581–1642)
• Culture: Flanders
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on copper, mounted on wood
• Dimensions: Framed: 36.2 x 43.8 x 3.8 cm (14 1/4 x 17 1/4 x 1 1/2 in.); Unframed: 23.5 x 30.9 cm (9 1/4 x 12 3/16 in.)
• Collection: P - Netherlandish-Flemish
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1982.245

A detail from the museum

The smooth surface of the copper panel highlights Francken's delicate painting technique.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. Noah L. Butkin

Further reading listed by the museum

• Turner, Evan H. "Year in Review for 1983." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 2 (1984): 38-79.
• Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993.
• Bass, Marisa. "Jan Gossaert's Neptune and Amphitrite Reconsidered" in Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art 35, No. 1/2 (2011): 61-84.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.