Vertumnus and Pomona at The Louvre, Paris

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This is a marble sculpture piece by Jean-Baptiste II Lemoyne, born in Paris in 1704 and passing away in Paris in 1778. The stated theme revolves around the classical myth of Vertumnus and Pomona taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. According to the myth, Pomona, a stunning but proud wood-nymph, protected herself inside her orchard with a sickle at the right lower corner, dedicating herself completely to its cultivation while rejecting all potential suitors. Vertumnus, either a demigod of seasons or a satyr, falls deeply in love with the nymph's beauty but she ignores and rejects his advances to enter her realm. The adaptable Vertumnus gains access to the orchard by disguising himself as an old woman (in this piece, an old man with a basket). Once inside, he convinces the maiden through allusive stories to "seize the day" and choose the handsome youth Vertumnus, who finally reveals his true form. Passionately he compares his situation to an elm tree intertwined with vines bearing grapes. If the tree stood alone, Vertumnus argued, the vine would have nowhere to go and the grapes would be trampled under foot. "You shun marriage and do not care to be wed," so the god of orchards cannot bear fruit without her help. His words melt the nymph's heart and they are united.