Bacchus and Ariadne - Lot 26

Bacchus and Ariadne Tapestry from the Manufacture Royale des Gobelins, Workshop of Jean Jans le jeune, active from 1668 to 1723, head of the 1st haute-lisse workshop Late 17th century Part of a Metamorphoses hanging whose models were created by various painters. Model by Charles de la Fosse (1636-1716) Workshop mark in the lower blue braid, right, H. 3.26 x W. 2.00 m H. 10ft 8 x W. 6ft 7 Iconography: Bacchus has found Ariadne asleep, abandoned in Naxos by Theseus (whom she had previously helped to escape from the Minotaur's labyrinth). Bacchus marries Ariadne, and we see him on the tapestry presenting her with a fabulous jewel: a hymenal diadem adorned with stars which, when cast into the heavens, will become a constellation. Bacchus is depicted with a thyrse (a stem topped with a pine cone), a symbol of fertility. His chariot is harnessed to two panthers (or leopards). Related tapestries: The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has an identical tapestry, slightly wider with a different border (Cat. no. 103, p. 342), from the collection of Louis XIV. Material and condition: Finely woven in wool and silk (wool warp, wool and silk weft). The tapestry retains beautiful, vivid colors; it retains the mark of a former fold. Provenance : - Private collection, Sold in Paris in 1933. References - Edith Standen, 1988, Ovid's Metamorphoses: a Gobelins tapestry series, Metropolitan Museum Journal no. 23 p. 155. - Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis and Hillie Smit, 2004, European tapestries in the Rijksmuseum, fig. 164 and 167. - Jean Vittet, Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée, 2010, La collection de tapisseries de Louis XIV, p. 204