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Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn is a Dutch painter, draftsman and engraver, a great master of chiaroscuro, the largest representative of the golden age of Dutch painting. He was able to translate in his works the whole spectrum of human experiences with such emotional richness, which before him did not know the fine arts. The works of Rembrandt, extremely diverse in genre identity, open the spectator to the timeless spiritual world of human experiences and feelings.
In classical poetry Ganymede is described as a beautiful youth, who was much loved by the gods as a cup-bearer. Jupiter himself had fallen in love with the boy, and after assuming the form of an eagle had kidnapped him from the Trojan plains. The painting has been interpreted in quite different ways: humanists saw the childlike pure soul loved by God in the figure of the small child Ganymede, while the motif of urination was believed to emphasize Ganymede's second nature as the zodiac sign Aquarius, the water bearer, who called for the growth of vegetation, other theories concentrate in the cherries.
Date of creation: 1635
Collection Owner: Old Masters Picture Gallery, Dresden State Art Museums