A FLEMISH MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY
THE PROPERTY OF THE TRUSTEES OF LORD GRETTON (LOTS 206-208)
A FLEMISH MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY

SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY

Details
A FLEMISH MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY
SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY
Woven in wools and silks, probably depicting 'The Caledonian Boar Hunt', with Meleager and Atalanta attacking the boar in a wooded landscape with a castle beyond, within an elaborate border of floral garlands decorated with birds, the angles with feather plums and centred to top and bottom by a vase, areas of reweaving, particularly to the brown threads
9 ft. 4 in. x 10 ft. 6 in. (284 cm. x 320 cm.)

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Lot Essay


Meleager's father had offended Diana, who in revenge sent a boar to ravage the countryside. Meleager set out with a group of men to hunt it down, but the first to wound it was Atalanta, the virgin huntress Meleager loved. When the Caledonian boar finally died, Meleager gave Atalanta its pelt and head. This caused a quarrel among his companions in which he killed his two uncles. The Fates decreed at his birth that Meleager would live as long as a log they had placed in a fire, survived. His mother had taken it out to preserve it, but upon hearing that Meleager had killed two of her brothers, she threw it back again, sending Meleager slowly to his death.

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