Fountain Of Youth Ancient Painting.flemish Art 15-17centyry(?)

 Ancient painting on the wood.Measures: 38/24,5 cmCondition: Used,sign of age,cracked wood,chips,craquelure.The source(Fountain )of eternal youth.The source of eternal youth is a legendary spring that restores the youth of anyone who drinks from it. The legend about it is thousands of years old; references to it can be found in Herodotus's ,History of Alexander the Great"” and in stories about Presbyter John. There are references to a similar spring in the myths of the Caribbean Indians. The legend about it became widely known in the 16th century, when Juan Ponce de León tried to find it.Herodotus mentions a fountain located in Ethiopia containing special water that gives Ethiopians their exceptional longevity. The story of the “living water” appears in the Eastern versions of the “History of Alexander the Great,” which tells how Alexander the Great and his servant crossed the Land of Darkness to find a rejuvenating spring (the commander's servant became the prototype for the Eastern sage Al-Hidra in later Eastern legends). Arabic versions and versions of the al-Hamya “History of Alexander the Great” were very popular in Spain during and after the period of Al-Andalus, and were known to explorers who traveled to America. These early texts clearly inspired the author of the popular medieval travel book, The Adventures of Sir John Mandeville, which also mentions a Fountain of Youth located at the foot of a mountain near Polombe (modern-day Kollam) in India. Influenced by these stories, the legend of the fountain of youth was popular in courtly Gothic art and remained popular during the Age of Discovery. There are also many indirect sources for the legend. Eternal youth is a gift that has often been sought in myths and legends, and stories of things such as the philosopher's stone, the universal panacea, and the elixir of life are common throughout Eurasia and elsewhere.Additional details may have been borrowed from the story of the pool of Bethesda contained in the Gospel of John. From time to time, the Angel of the Lord would descend into this pool, stirring the water and giving it miraculous properties, and many sick, blind, and crippled people would wait for this moment.The source of eternal youth is a very popular theme in art. European iconography (such as Lucas Cranach's painting of the same name) consistently depicts elderly people, often carried by others, entering a pool as large as space allows. The people in the pool are young and naked, and after a while they come out, put on rich clothes, and enjoy a meal.In medieval literature, the theme dates back to the 12th-century French poem “God of Love,” which describes a fountain capable of restoring youth to the elderly and healing illnesses