This series of tapestries is after the decorative scheme of the seasons executed by the painter Pierre Mignard for the Galerie d'Apollon at the château de Saint Cloud. Depicting scenes from Classical Mythology, this scheme was commissioned circa 1677 by Philippe, duc d'Orléans (1640-1701), younger brother of Louis XIV. These designs, known as the Galerie de Saint Cloud, were first woven at the Gobelins Manufactory in 1686, under the direction of the marquis de Louvois, but it was from the engravings, in reverse, by Jean-Baptiste de Poilly (1669-1728) that the English manufactured tapestries derive
An extremely closely related panel of Bacchus and Ariadne, attributed to John Vanderbank's Soho workshops, was sold by the Trustees of the Tyrwhitt-Drake settlement in these Rooms, 10 July 1952, lot 233. The Tyrwhitt-Drake series comprised:- 'Autumn' or The Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne, 'Spring' or A Sacrifice in honour of Cercs and 'Summer' or the Marriage of Zephyr and Flora. This latter scene, as well as the complete scene of Autumn which this and the following lot (lot 318) originally formed, were also sold in these Rooms from the collection of Hugh Richard Arthur, Duke of Westminster, 3 July 1959, lot 95
Related Mortlake tapestries, acquired by Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu (d.1709) are at Boughton and are discussed in T. Murdoch ed., Boughton House The English Versailles, London, 1992, pp. 96-107