Mercury and Herse

Artists

Description

This tapestry belongs to a series dedicated to Ovid's Metamorphoses. The story tells how Mercury sees the three daughters of King Crecops as they return from the festival of Minerva, carrying baskets of flowers (Met. 2:708-832). He falls in love with the most beautiful one. The tapestry shows a landscape with the three sisters, dressed in ancient style dress. Mercury, placed in the clouds, points to the central one, presumably Herse. On the right is the temple of Minerva. The tapestry shows a similar composition (with slight variations) as Virgil Solis's woodcut for the Metamorphoses Ovidii of 1563. The tapestry has the same borders as 1595.213 (see 1959.213 description).

Dimensions

302.3 x 309.9 cm (119 x 122 in.)

Provenance

Abbott Lawrence Lowell, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1959