Garland of Flowers around an Allegory of Farming

On the back of this panel are two marks, the letters MV for the Antwerp panel-maker Michiel Vriendt, and the arms of the city. From December 1617 the city required panels to be inspected and branded with its castle and hands before they left the maker's workshop, a check on the quality of the wood that painters and buyers relied on. The picture on the front was made around 1620 to 1622 by two local artists. Hendrik van Balen painted the oval medallion in the centre, where Cybele, goddess of the earth, receives gifts from figures representing the four seasons. Jan Brueghel painted the heavy garland of fruit, vegetables and flowers that surrounds it, with cherubs climbing through the leaves above. Down among the produce he tucked in animals, among them two white rabbits and a deer peering out just below the medallion.