Willem OOSTERDIJK, Netherlands 17th century - Study for Deucalion praying Themis

This small oil on paper is an interesting document because of the technique and especially because of the signature discovered on the back when the work was duplicated. The Rijksmuseum preserves a painting by this rare artist, active around 1667, of which almost nothing is known.
The subject, as enigmatic as the author, could be explained by the comparison with the various representations of Pyrrha and Deucalion asking for help from the goddess Themis (Ovid, Metamorphoses, I, 375 - 380).