Called the Prince of Denmark and Elizabeth, Viscountess Mordaunt, as Vertumnus and Pomona, but more...

after Princess Louise Hollandine, Abbess of Maubuisson, Pontoise (1622–1709) . Oil painting on canvas, Called the Prince of Denmark (1653–1708) and Elizabeth, Viscountess Mordaunt (c.1632-1679), as Vertumnus and Pomona,but more probably Henry, 1st Viscount Mordaunt and Miss Taylor (copy by Mary Hotchkiss), after Princess Louise Hollandine, Abbess of Maubisson, Pontoise (1622–1709). Henry, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, in classical Roman dress, is seated on a bank beneath a tree, leaning forward and stretching out his left arm to arrest the apparent escape of Miss Taylor, whose basket of fruit has taken to the ground. In his right hand he holds a mask; she wears a blue dress over a white shuift, with an orange cloak; a spaniel is beside her. Vertumnus was the Roman deity who resided over springs and orchards and Pomona was the goddess of fruit trees. He often assumed the form of a number of characters and finally prevailed upon her as an old woman, although he is generally represented as a young man and the mask refers to his metamorphoses. The attribute of Pomona is often a basket of fruit or a bough of an apple tree. Castle Ward, County Down (Accredited Museum)