Fountain of Youth

The painting shows a fountain of youth, in which no men but exclusively older women are bathing. Rejuvenated, they climb out of the bath and amuse themselves with music, dancing and good food. In many points Cranach is portraying the real bathing culture of the Middle Ages. The water issues from a column in the centre of the pool, crowned with the figures of Venus and Cupid. This suggests that this bath serves to revitalise one’s libido. The fact that only women are visiting this bath can be explained by the belief that older men are rejuvenated automatically by contact with young women.