Editing Vertumnus

{{Short description|Roman god of the seasons}}
{{For|the painting by Giuseppe Arcimboldo|Vertumnus (painting)}}
{{Infobox deity
| symbols = gardening tools
| image = Vertumne MBA.jpg
| caption = Statue of the 1st or 2nd centuries AD.
| type = Roman
| deity_of = God of seasons, change, gardens, fruit trees, and plant growth
| consort = [[Pomona (mythology)|Pomona]]
| parents = 
| siblings = 
| offspring = 
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| mount = 
| Etruscan_equivalent = [[Voltumna]]
| festivals = Vertumnalia
}}
<!--this article has used the convention BC/AD since its inception-->
[[File:0 Vertumne et Pomone - Peter Paul Rubens (1617-1619).JPG|thumb|279px|''Vertumnus and Pomona'' (c. 1618) by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]]]

In [[Roman mythology]], '''Vertumnus'''  ({{IPA|la|wɛr'tʊmnʊs}}; also '''Vortumnus''' or '''Vertimnus''') is the god of seasons, change<ref>" Vertumnus then, that turn'st the year about," ([[Thomas Nashe]], ''Summer's Last Will and Testament'' (1592, printed 1600)).</ref> and plant growth, as well as gardens and fruit trees. He could change his form at will; using this power, according to [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' (xiv), he tricked [[Pomona (mythology)|Pomona]] into talking to him by disguising himself as an old woman and gaining entry to her [[orchard]], then using a narrative warning of the dangers of rejecting a suitor (the embedded tale of [[Anaxarete|Iphis and Anaxarete]]) to seduce her. The tale of Vertumnus and Pomona has been called "the first exclusively Latin tale."<ref>It is called the first exclusively Latin tale by Charles Fantazzi, "The revindication of Roman myth in the Pomona-Vertumnus tale",  in N. Barbu ''et al.'', eds. ''Ovidianum'' (Bucharest, 1976:288), as Roxanne Gentilcore notes in [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1192628 "The Landscape of desire: the tale of Pomona and Vertumnus in Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'"], ''Phoenix'' '''49'''.2 (Summer 1995:110-120), p. 110 ("It has also been called the first exclusively Latin tale") and note 1.</ref>

Vertumnus's [[Roman festivals|festival]] was called the '''Vertumnalia''' and was held 13 August.<ref>Ovid, ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]''.</ref>

==Cult and origin==

The name ''Vortumnus'' most likely derives from [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] ''[[Voltumna]]''. Its formation in Latin was probably influenced by the Latin verb ''vertere'' meaning "to change", hence the alternative form ''Vertumnus''. Ancient etymologies were based on often superficial similarities of sound rather than the principles of modern scientific linguistics, but reflect ancient interpretations of a deity's function.<ref>Eytmology in Propertius, ''Elegy'' 4; commentary by L. Richardson Jr. (1977), noting that the etymology is not [[classical philology|philologically]] sound.</ref> In writing about the [[Vestalia|Festival of Vesta]] in his poem on the [[Roman calendar]], Ovid recalls a time when the forum was still a reedy swamp and "that god, Vertumnus, whose name fits many forms, / Wasn’t yet so-called from damming back the river" (''averso amne'').<ref>Ovid, ''Fasti'', Book 6, June 9.</ref>

[[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]] was convinced that Vortumnus was Etruscan, and a major god.<ref>Varro, ''De lingua latina'' V.46: ''"Ab eis [the Etruscans] dictus Vicus Tuscus, et ideo ibi Vortumnum stare, quod is deus Etruriae princeps"''</ref> Vertumnus's cult arrived in [[Rome, Italy|Rome]] around 300 BC, and a temple to him was constructed on the [[Aventine Hill]] by 264 BC, the date when Volsinii (Etruscan Velzna) fell to the Romans. [[Sextus Propertius|Propertius]], the major literary source for the god, also asserts that the god was Etruscan, and came from [[Volsinii]].

Propertius refers to a bronze statue of Vortumnus<ref>Propertius, ''Elegy'' 4.2.41-46</ref> made by the legendary [[Mamurius Veturius]], who was also credited with the twelve ritual shields ''([[ancile|ancilia]])'' of [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]]'s priests, known as the [[Salii]]. The bronze statue replaced an ancient [[maple]] statue ''([[xoanon]])'' supposed to have been brought to Rome in the time of [[Romulus]].<ref>Daniel P. Harmon, "Religion in the Latin Elegists", ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' 2.16.3 (1986), pp. 1960–61; W.A. Camps, ''Propertius: Elegies Book IV'' (Cambridge University Press, 1968), p. 77.</ref> The statue of Vortumnus ''(signum Vortumni)'' stood in a simple shrine located at the [[Vicus Tuscus]] near the [[Forum Romanum]],<ref>Michael C. J. Putnam, "The Shrine of Vortumnus" ''American Journal of Archaeology'' vol&nbsp;'''71''', &nbsp;2, pp&nbsp;177-179 (April 1967).</ref> and was decorated according to the changing seasons. In his poem about the god, Propertius has the statue of Vortumnus speak in first-person as if to a passer-by.<ref>E. C. Marquis (1974) "Vertumnus in Propertius 4, 2". ''Hermes'', vol&nbsp;'''102''', no&nbsp;3, pp&nbsp;491-500.</ref>

The base of the statue was discovered in 1549, perhaps still ''in situ'', but has since been lost. An inscription<ref>''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' VI.1.804: VORTUMNUS TEMPORIBUS DIOCLETIANI ET MAXIMIANI</ref> commemorated  a restoration to the statue under [[Diocletian]] and [[Maximian]] in the early 4th&nbsp;century&nbsp;[[AD]].<ref>R. Lanciani (1903) ''Storia degli scavi di Roma'' vol. II, p. 204f.</ref>

==Neo-classical tradition==

The subject of ''Vertumnus and Pomona'' appealed to European sculptors and painters of the 16th through the 18th centuries, providing a disguised erotic subtext in a scenario that contrasted youthful female beauty with an aged [[crone]]. In narrating the tale in the ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', Ovid had observed that the kind of kisses given by Vertumnus were never given by an old woman:<ref>''Qualia numquam vera dedisset anus'' — [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]''.</ref> "so [[Circe]]'s smile conceals a wicked intention, and Vertumnus's hot kisses ill suit an old woman's disguise".<ref>{{cite journal |first=Donald |last=Lateiner |date=February–March 1996 |title=Nonverbal behaviors in Ovid's poetry, primarily ''Metamorphoses''&nbsp;14 |journal=The Classical Journal |volume=91 |number=3 |pages=225–253}}</ref>

The subject was even woven into [[tapestry]] in series with the generic theme ''Loves of the Gods'', of which the mid-16th-century [[Brussels tapestry]] at [[Museu Calouste Gulbenkian]], Lisbon, woven to cartoons attributed to [[Jan Vermeyen]], must be among the earliest. [[François Boucher]] provided designs for the tapestry-weaver Maurice Jacques at the [[Gobelins manufactory|Gobelins tapestry manufactory]] for a series that included ''Vertumnus and Pomona'' (1775–1778). A similar theme of erotic disguise is found with ''Jupiter wooing [[Callisto (mythology)|Callisto]] in the guise of Diana'', an example of which is at the [[J. Paul Getty Museum]].

[[Mme de Pompadour]], who sang well and danced gracefully, played the role of ''Pomone'' in a [[pastoral]] presented to a small audience at [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]];<ref>{{cite web |title=Pourquoi ''Le Devin du Village'' est un pastorale? |url-status= |url=http://www.threeweb.ad.jp/~nityshr/fronbun/dvpastoral.htm |postscript=;}}{{deadlink|date=September 2023}} <br/>''See also'' article [[Le Devin du Village]].</ref> the sculpture by [[Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne]] (1760) alludes to the event. 
<!--the Pompadour Pomone reference should be checked against Philippe Beaussant, ''Les plaisirs de Versailles, théâtre et musique'' Chapter III, "Le théâtre de la Pompadour" Fayard, 1996.-->

[[Camille Claudel]] sculpted a sensual marble version of "Vertumnus and Pomona" in 1905 (Musée Rodin, Paris).

[[Joseph Brodsky]] wrote a poem about Vertumnus.

==Modern interpretations==
David Littlefield finds in the episode a movement from [[rape]] to mutual desire, effected against an orderly, "civilised" [[Latium|Latian]] landscape.<ref>David Littlefield (1965) "Pomona and Vertumnus: a fruition of history in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''" ''Arion'' vol&nbsp;'''4''', p&nbsp;470.</ref>

Conversely, Roxanne Gentilcore reads in its diction and narrative strategies images of deception, veiled threat and seduction, in which Pomona, the tamed [[hamadryad]] now embodying the orchard, does not have a voice.<ref>Roxanne Gentilcore (1995) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1192628 "The Landscape of Desire: The Tale of Pomona and Vertumnus in Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'"], ''Phoenix'' '''49'''.2 (Summer 1995:110-120).</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Vertumnus Pomona Lemoyne Louvre RF2716.jpg|A [[rococo]] ''Vertumne et Pomone'' (1760) by [[Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne]].
Image:Vertumnus and Pomona-Summer Garden-Saint Petersburg.jpg|''Vertumnus'' and ''[[Pomona (mythology)|Pomona]]'' (1717) by [[Francesco Penso]], in an [[Avenue (landscape)|allée]] of the Summer Garden, St. Petersburg.
Image:Luca Giordano 026.jpg|''Vertumnus and Pomona'' (1682–1683) by [[Luca Giordano]].
File:Vertumnus årstidernas gud målad av Giuseppe Arcimboldo 1591 - Skoklosters slott - 91503.jpg|upright|left|The painting ''[[Vertumnus (painting)|Vertumnus]]'' (ca. 1590) by [[Giuseppe Arcimboldo]] depicts [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolf&nbsp;II]] as Vertumnus''.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www6.miami.edu/lowe/art_greco_roman.htm Statue of Vertumnus in the Lowe Museum]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061002043108/http://www.museu.gulbenkian.pt/obra.asp?num=2329&nuc=a10&lang=en Museu Gulbenkian tapestry]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060920063251/http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=6166 Getty Museum tapestry]
* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000204 The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Vertumnus and Pomona)]
{{Roman religion}}
{{Time in religion and mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Agricultural gods]]
[[Category:Fertility gods]]
[[Category:Roman gods]]
[[Category:Seasonal deities]]
[[Category:Shapeshifters]]
[[Category:Time and fate gods]]
[[Category:Crones and hags]]