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Tapestry: Thetis and Achilles Before the Oracle (from the series THE STORY OF ACHILLES)
Flemish
Probably third quarter of the 17th century
Object Place: Brussels, Flanders
Medium/Technique
Tapestry weave (wool warp; wool, silk and gilt(?) silver wefts)
Dimensions
413 x 465 cm (162 5/8 x 183 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Mrs. Harriet J. Bradbury
Accession Number30.484
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionIt has been suggested that the tapestry illustrates a tale recorded or invented by the sixteenth century mythographer Natale Conti. According to Conti, there was an oracle combining the prophecy that the Trojan War could not be won without Achilles with an earlier prophecy forseeing Achilles death in the war. Here, Thetis is shown entering a hall or temple from the right, her right hand resting on the head of the nude young son who walks before her. A priest stands left of center behind an altar separating him from the boy Achilles, and the gestures over the flame. Two acolytes, each holding a lamp, flank the priest. A dead lamb lies on the floor before the altar; its body is partially obscured by a ewer and basin lying on a small covered table in the extreme foreground. Behind the figures rises a wall elaborately articulated with pilasters and a shell-capped niche. A proscenium-like border encloses the entire scene. It consists of a pair of terminal figures at the sides- the one at the left representing Minerva (War) and the one at the right Hercules (Strength), the two gods to whom the child was dedicated- supporting a cornice decorated with garlands of fruit grasped by putti. The small covered table and a pair of cornucopia, spilling palm and laurel branches, continue the enframement across the bottom. An oval cartouche in the center of the cornice above bears the following inscription :
ACHILLES PVER A MATRE ADDVCITVR AD ORACVLVM ("The boy Achilles is taken to the oracle by his mother")
ACHILLES PVER A MATRE ADDVCITVR AD ORACVLVM ("The boy Achilles is taken to the oracle by his mother")
InscriptionsThe Brussels mark appears woven into the lower center right outer guard. An additional weaver mark appears in the lower left corner of the tapestry - G.V.D.S.
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.