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Lot Essay
Eurydice, a wood nymph and the wife of Orpheus, while fleeing from an unwelcome suitor (Aristaeus) stepped on a snake and died from its bite (Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book X, Verses 1 - 10). It is thereafter that Orpheus descended into Hades and convinced Pluto to allow her to follow him back to earth. It was his music that swayed Pluto but she could only come under the condition that he did not look back at her until they reached the upper world. But at the last moment he did and Eurydice vanished forever.
Although there are few records of tapestries illustrating The Life of Orpheus, there is mention of a set that was bought by Margaret of Parma (d. 1586), daughter of Charles V. She was the Governess of the Netherlands from 1559 to 1567 and purchased a large amount of tapestries in Antwerp for the marriage of her son, Alexander Farnese, to Mary of Portugal in 1565. The Orpheus tapestries were bought from Enrico Pipelinghe, dealer in silk and textiles and grandfather of Peter Paul Rubens. (G. Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt, 1999, p. 103).
Although there are few records of tapestries illustrating The Life of Orpheus, there is mention of a set that was bought by Margaret of Parma (d. 1586), daughter of Charles V. She was the Governess of the Netherlands from 1559 to 1567 and purchased a large amount of tapestries in Antwerp for the marriage of her son, Alexander Farnese, to Mary of Portugal in 1565. The Orpheus tapestries were bought from Enrico Pipelinghe, dealer in silk and textiles and grandfather of Peter Paul Rubens. (G. Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt, 1999, p. 103).