van der Lisse 17th Century Painting Dutch

Dirck van der Lisse (b. 1610-1669). Dutch. Saint Serenus in the Garden. Oil on panel. 18 3/4 x 25 in. Monogram on verso: "DVL". This painting tells the story of Saint Serenus, (d. circa 303) hermit and martyr, who became well-known for the beauty of his garden. One day he found a woman and her daughters walking in the garden around noon. He recommended that they withdraw, and return in the cool of the evening. She took this as an affront and told her husband, a Roman Imperial guard. The husband convinced Emperor Maximian to grant permission to revenge the imagined insult. (Here we see Serenus confronted by the local magistrate.) Serenus repeated his explanation, and was acquitted, but his demeanor led the magistrate to suspect Serenus was a Christian. When ordered to make a sacrifice to the gods, Serenus refused and was beheaded. Little is known of van der Lisse's early life. He studied under Cornelis van Poelenburgh, one of the first Dutch Italianate landscapists. He emulated van Poelenburgh's style in his depiction of mythological and religious subjects, often placing the major figures of his compositions in the foreground, surrounded by an idealized rocky landscape.

Work appears to have been previously cleaned and has paint loss to image.