Putto on a Dolphin
Circle of Gérard van Opstal Flemish
Collectors in French courtly circles prized van Opstal's reworking in ivory of themes he employed in large-scale architectural reliefs carved for palaces and private mansions in Paris. The land- and sea-based mythological scenes in which he specialized were clearly inspired by his fellow Fleming Rubens, who was, in turn, inspired by antique Roman sarcophagi. Van Opstal's ivories are often pierced and evidently meant to be mounted against a dark background. This example, perhaps by a follower, may have been intended for an ebony cabinet.
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