Description

-Tapestry from the “Metamorphoses of Ovid” hanging after Simon Vouet, ateliers du fbg Saint-Marcel, circa 1635-1645.
This entrefenêtre illustrates a theme from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Book X), the love story of Venus and Adonis. Adonis is seen escaping from his lover’s arms at the edge of a body of water. A fitting subject for the depiction of young bodies in a verdant setting. The carefully crafted border is a decorative element in its own right (lower part: a cartouche depicting in its center, on a blue background, Diana stretched out accompanied by her greyhound, adorned with a shell, two bucrania of goats in profile whose horns support garlands of foliage / upper part: a cartouche with a bare blue oval in its center / the cartouches are set against a yellow background with foliage motifs).
-The border is original, a precious element that has made it possible to identify the series to which this entrefenêtre belongs and to establish its context of creation. In fact, this rich border refers to the “Metamorphoses of Ovid” hanging after Simon Vouet, woven in the Paris workshops run by Alexandre de Comans in Faubourg Saint-Marcel around 1635-1645 (before the creation of the Gobelins manufactory), such as “Le bain des nymphes”, exhibited at Château de Sully-sur-Loire (Loiret). The fineness of the weave (8 threads/cm), the quality of the design and the solidity of the colors corroborate this attribution.
-Very good condition. Lined. The tapestry is not quite rectangular.
-Dimensions: 296 x 103.5 cm
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