LATE 17TH CENTURY

Details

A BRUSSELS MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY
Late 17th Century
Woven in wools and silks, depicting Mercury holding his carduceus and raising his sword to slay the sleeping Argus, to the right with Io turned into a white heifer fleeing and with a dog sleeping in the foreground, within a wooded landscape with a vista of a farmhouse to the right, reduced in size, minor reweaving and touching
100 in. x 109½ in. (254 cm. x 278 cm.)

Lot Essay

One of Jupiter's many loves was Io. Juno, Jupiter's wife, frustrated the love by turning Io into a white heifer and entrusting her to the hundred-eyed giant Argos. Jupiter in revenge sent Mercury to slay the giant, which he did after lulling him to sleep with music.

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