Allegory of fire - attributed to Adriaen van Stalbemt (1580 - 1662)

Oil on parquet panel - 17th century Antwerp school, attributed to Adriaen van Stalbemt.
Seated in the center of a landscape sheltered by cliffs, a female figure holds in one hand a thunderbolt, a bundle of stings imitating lightning and an attribute of Jupiter, and caresses with the other a salamander, a mythical creature that lives in fire and is at the heart of alchemical thought. All around her, in great disorder, copper and brass kitchen utensils, armor and weapons are strewn about. All these metallic elements refer to the flames that shaped them, evoking the forges of Vulcan, master of underground fire. Finally, the large birds in the center are none other than ostriches, reputed to swallow burning iron, digest it and return a purer metal.
A worthy heir to the miniaturists of past centuries, Adriaen van Stalbemt's confident brushwork and surgical touch offer the viewer a multitude of strikingly realistic objects. The influence of the Brueghels is evident in our composition, particularly that of Jan Brueghel the Elder, with whom he often collaborated.
Together with the seasons and human temperaments, the four elements represent the fundamental principles of cosmic order and natural life, and complete the doctrine of correspondences between microcosm and macrocosm, i.e. the analogy between man and the universe. Thus, each element is linked to a season and a temperament: water corresponds to winter and a phlegmatic mood; fire to summer and anger; earth to autumn and melancholy; air to spring and a sanguine character.
Originally, our painting was part of a series on the elements, from which the Allegory of Earth is now missing, presumably lost. The Allegory of Water and the Allegory of Fire remain, however, and are on display in the gallery. Ideally, these three paintings should be brought together in a single collection (see ambience photo).

Our painting is enhanced by its powerful 18th-century carved and gilded wooden frame.
Dimensions: 55.5 x 71 cm - 56.5 x 72.5 cm with frame