Panel With An Image Of Tmolus - Painted By A Follower Of Jacob Jordaens - 18th Century

The subject is taken from Ovid, Metamorphoses, XI: 146-193.
The musical contest between Apollo and Pan was judged by the mountain god Tmolus, wearing an oak-leaf crown.

The story: Tmolus declared Apollo the victor, but King Midas, who was also present, objected, proclaiming that Pan should have won. In this painting, Midas has already received his punishment for favouring the wrong contestant: the vengeful Apollo gave him the ears of an ass.

In comparison with a painting by Jacob Jordaens of the same subject in a private collection in Germany^*, it is plausible that the original composition, which is probably lost, was painted around 1640.
This single image of Tmolus may be a fragment of a larger panel or a study based on an original work by Jacob Jordaens.
Oil painting on panel

* See R.A. d'Hulst, Jacob Jordaens, London 1982, pp. 73-4, reproduced fig. 145.