Allegory of Fall

Artists

Description

This work exemplifies a popular late seventeenth-century tapestry type: hybrid genre-landscapes ("genres mythologiques"), which were usually marketed as sets. A female figure representing Fall is seated on a rocky mound and holds a tall rod with grapevines. While the foreground and sides are framed with sharply rendered foliage and still-life elements, the landscape opens into a soft valley at right. The copper wine vessels, squash, grapes, and apple tree in bloom are all attributes of Fall, as are the five male and female attendant figures bearing the fruits of the season's harvest on silver platters.

Dimensions

297.2 x 434.3 cm (117 x 171 in.)

Provenance

Mr. and Mrs. Harold L. Chalifoux, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1953