Het werkelijke onderwerp van de werken van A. Elsheimer en N. Knüpfer bekend onder de naam 'Contento of de jacht naar het geluk'

The theme of the paintings by Elsheimer and Knüpfer (fig, 1-4) known as the 'Pursuit of Happiness' can be defined more closely. Knüpfer's painting was catalogued as 'Contento' as early as the 17th century, but it is more than an allegory of the pursuit of happiness. The abducted goddess is not Fortuna. The litter ary source was the fable of 'Contento' and 'Malcontento' in the novel by Mateo Aléman' Vida y hechos del picaro Guzman de Alfarache, atalaya de la vida humana', which was published in Spain in 1599 and was translated into all European languages soon afterwards. The goddess Contento has been represented with the attribute of Venus, the apple, which is the embodiment of sensual joy. The gods however wanted to punish mankind because they worshipped Contento above all others. During a sacrificial feast Jupiter and Mercurius abducted her. The humans tried to hold on to her robe, not realising that the gods had hidden her sister Malcontento under the clothes. This scene of abduction and substitution has been depicted in the paintings by Elsheimer and Knüpfer. Mankind's useless strife after sensual joy is an old theme in the history of Northern art. The 'Hay-Wain' by H. Bosch is the 'Contento/Malcontento of the fifteenth century. Sixteenth century versions of the subject are the paintings by G. Mostaert and the print 'Al Hoy' by B. de Momper. In the beginning of the seventeenth century one comes across it in an engraving by Jacques Horenbault and in the work of A. van de Venne. Elsheimer and Knüpf er changed Bosch's satire into a goodnatured ironical representation.