Allegory of Spring

Herman van Swoll, a rich Amsterdam collector, lived in a house on the Herengracht that was built in 1668, and around 1670 he commissioned Berchem to paint four seasons to hang above its doors. Overdoors are seen from below and from across a room, and Berchem gave all four the same device, a round medallion in which a figure rides a triumphal chariot. In Spring the figure is Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers. The series carried a second scheme as well. Figures and symbols in each picture tie its season to one of the four elements, and for spring the element is air.