A BRUSSELS MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY CUSHION

SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY

Details

A BRUSSELS MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY CUSHION
Second half 16th Century
Woven in wools and silks, depicting the story of Erichthonius, with a man bringing chalice to a maiden standing in a doorway of a house with thatched roof, the foreground with a grotesque figure with a long tail, to the left with a view of an open landscape with a townscape beyond, within foliate scrolling borders and a later yellow and green fringing and a later green cotton backing, areas of reweaving and patching, the tapestry reused from a border fragment
17 in. x 27 in. (43 cm. x 69 cm.)

Lot Essay

Vulcan, in a clumsy attempt to ravish Minerva, accidentally let his semen spill over the ground and thus fertilised Mother Earth who gave birth to Erichthonius. Minerva shut the infant in a basket and entrusted it to the three daughters of Cecrops, King of Attica, but forbade them to look inside. Overcome by curiosity one looked inside and discovered that the infant had a serpent's tale for legs. The three daughters threw themselves from the Acropolis in fear. Erichthonius was then raised by Minerva and later became King of Athens.

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