Advanced Search 
Tapestry: The Anger of Achilles Against Agamemnon (from the series The Story of Achilles)
Flemish
Probably third quarter of the 17th century, 1650–75
Object Place: Brussels, Flanders
Medium/Technique
Tapestry weave (wool warp; wool, silk and gilt(?) silver wefts)
Dimensions
417.19 x 385.44 cm (164 1/4 x 151 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Mrs. Harriet J. Bradbury
Accession Number30.483
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionThis is one of two tapestries in the MFA-Boston collection from the series THE STORY OF ACHILLES. The subject of this weaving derives from Homer's Iliad, Book I. Agamemnon decides that if his lovely captive Chryseis is to be sent back to her father, Chryses, then he will take Briseis, Achilles' enchanting captive. Achilles, enraged by this pronouncement, draws his sword to attack Agamemnon, but Minerva (whom Juno sent to prevent violence) restrains him. The scene in the tapestry takes place on a dais under or before a tent. In the center background, Agamemnon begins to rise from his throne but is dissuaded by the elderly Nestor and two other men who approach from the right. In the forward left corner, Achilles is about to draw his sword and turns to face the floating half-figure of Minerva, who grasps his hair. The foreground plane shows the proscenium of terminal figures-and-cornice. In this case, the terminal figure at the left represents Blind Passion, and the one at the right probably represents Envy. Two garlands of leaves, grasped at the centers by putti, decorate the cornice and flank the oval cartouche in the center which is inscribed as follows:
ABSTINET A FERRO AE ACIDES RETINENTE MINERVA ("Achilles abstains from the sword because Minerva restrains him.") A great lion lies chained in the center foreground. It may be intended as a symbol of Achilles' violence being held in check or as an allusion to his been fed on the entrails of lions when he was a child.
ABSTINET A FERRO AE ACIDES RETINENTE MINERVA ("Achilles abstains from the sword because Minerva restrains him.") A great lion lies chained in the center foreground. It may be intended as a symbol of Achilles' violence being held in check or as an allusion to his been fed on the entrails of lions when he was a child.
InscriptionsSee Description above.
ProvenanceSaid to have come from "a royal house" [see note 1]. About 1884/1889, purchased in Munich by Charles Mather Ffoulke (b. 1841 - d. 1909), Washington, DC; 1909, consigned for sale from the Ffoulke collection to French and Company, New York [see note 2]; by 1913, sold by French and Co. to George Robert White (b. 1847 - d. 1922), Boston; by inheritance from White to his sister, Harriet J. White (Mrs. Frederick T.) Bradbury (b. 1851 - d. 1930), Boston; 1930, bequest of Harriet J. Bradbury to the MFA. (Accession Date: July 3, 1930)
NOTES: [1] Early provenance taken from unpublished letters of Charles Mather Ffoulke. [2] Ffoulke acquired most of his extensive tapestry collection in Europe between 1884 and 1889. He lent the Achilles tapestries (MFA accession nos. 30.483-484) to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1896 (A Collection of Tapestries Lent by Charles M. Ffoulke, cat. nos. 31-32) and they were sold by French and Co. after his death. They were on loan to the MFA by 1913; see The Ffoulke Collection of Tapestries (New York, 1913), pp. 128-131.
NOTES: [1] Early provenance taken from unpublished letters of Charles Mather Ffoulke. [2] Ffoulke acquired most of his extensive tapestry collection in Europe between 1884 and 1889. He lent the Achilles tapestries (MFA accession nos. 30.483-484) to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1896 (A Collection of Tapestries Lent by Charles M. Ffoulke, cat. nos. 31-32) and they were sold by French and Co. after his death. They were on loan to the MFA by 1913; see The Ffoulke Collection of Tapestries (New York, 1913), pp. 128-131.