Vertumne and Pomona - Lot 30

Vertumne and Pomona Tapestry from the Manufacture Royale de Beauvais Part of a hanging from Ovid's Metamorphoses After René-Antoine Houasse (1645-1710) Late 17th century H. 3.05 x W. 3.90 m H. 10ft x W. 12ft 10 Iconography and description Ovid sang of the love affairs of Vertumne and Pomona, Roman deities of nature and protectors of gardens, orchards and ripening fruit. Vertumne, whose name comes from vertere, to change, repeatedly tried to seduce Pomona by changing his appearance (the allegory of the seasons). He appeared to her as a ploughman, harvester, winegrower and gardener, but to no avail. Finally, he took on the appearance of an old woman, told her a story and pleaded his own case. Then he revealed himself in his true nature, a shining young god. Pomona couldn't resist him, fell in love with him and accepted his love. The two figures are in the foreground, seated on a kind of stone bench. The whole background of the tapestry is taken up by a remarkable garden adorned with balustrades, stone walls and porticoes, and large basins filled with cacti. Six young gardeners are at work in the park, and the ensemble perfectly depicts the domain of the two divinities. The composition is framed by a beautiful border decorated with floral scrolls interlaced with acanthus leaves, branches and olive twigs. This tapestry, woven under the direction of Philippe Béhagle, director of the Manufacture Royale de Beauvais from 1684 to 1705, perfectly illustrates a certain taste for the marvelous, recreated by the association of mythological tales with nature at its apogee. Materials and condition: Woven in wool and silk (wool warp, wool and silk weft) Good overall condition; maintenance restorations Bibliographical references - Bertrand Jestaz, 1976, The Beauvais Manufactory in 1690 in Acts of the Tapestry Symposium, pp. 187-219, fig. 12 (same tapestry, but with a different border in the Neues Schloss Bayreuth). - Matthieu Lett, 2020, René-Antoine Houasse (c. 1645-1710), Peindre pour Louis XIV. The tapestry is reproduced on p. 160, fig. 136. Provenance : - Private collection, former Georges Chevalier collection