Dutch painter. He completed his early training in Utrecht in the studio of the leading Dutch Italianate painter of his day, Cornelis van Poelenburgh. The highly successful style of Poelenburgh was to exert an influence on the young Cuylenborch which was to remain with him throughout his career. He is recorded being made an independent master of the Guild of Saint Luke in Utrecht in 1639.
This lighthearted mythological picture is a typical work by Abraham van Cuylenborch, but formerly it was attributed to Cornelis van Poelenburgh. The graceful woman seated on a rock occurs variously in the artist’s work. She comes close to one of Raphael’s Three Graces in the Sala di Psiche of the Villa Farnesina, Rome, which was widely known through engravings. However, there are many similar figures in Dutch art, as seen in the work of Joachim Wtewael, Cornelis van Haarlem, Cornelis van Poelenburgh, and others.
Bacchus enjoys a flute of red wine, while the naked nymphs in the foreground receive fruits and vegetables from two heavily laden putti, one posing like a little Atlas with a basket on his head.
This signed and dated painting is a characteristic, and well preserved work by the Utrecht-based landscapist, Abraham van Cuylenborch. It represents Diana and her nymphs sleeping in a grotto, with the shepherd Endymion and four amoretti outside.
