The Hesperides.

2 engravings, 29,5 x 20,5 cm, laid paper with round watermark, signed in plate at lower margin "C. Bloemaert sculp" (trimmed to borderline, some genital areas censored with pen and brown ink, some minor brown spots).

"The three Hesperides carrying lemons to Lake Garda", after Nicolas Poussin, and "The three Hesperides carrying lemons to Rome", after Francesco Albani. Both are illustrations to G.B. Ferrari's "Hesperides Sive de Malorum Aureorum Cultura et Usu Libri Quatuor", published in Rome in 1646, which relates the mythological origins of lemons in Italy.
Ref. Hollstein II:70 and 71. - D. Freedberg, "Ferrari on the classification of oranges and lemons", in: Documentary culture Florence and Rome from Grand-Duke Ferdinand I to Pope Alexander VII. Bologna 1992.