A Brussels Mythological Tapestry from the Series The Life of Achilles

By Gaspar or Jan-Frans van der Borcht, after a design by Jan van Orley, Second Quarter 18th Century

woven in wool and silk, depicting ‘Achilles discovered among the daughters of Lycomedes’, with Achilles standing in the center, reaching for a warriors helmet, Odysseus standing to the left, observing the situation, while Lycomedes’ daughters, still unaware of what is about to unfold, are seated around Achilles, within an arcaded and draped architectural setting to the right and looking into formal gardens in the left background, with red shield mark in lower right field.
8 feet 11 inches x 14 feet 7 inches.

Property from a Private Family Trust

This lot is located in Chicago.

Provenance:

Private Collection

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2008

Note:

This tapestry depicts a scene from the mythological story of the great Trojan hero Achilles, son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia. This specific episode shows the moment when Achilles, who had been hidden by his mother among the daughters of King Lycomedes in Skyros to prevent him from accompanying the Greek army to Troy, is discovered by Odysseus and Diomedes. Odysseus – in Ovid’s description described as disguised as a merchant – comes to Skyros and offers Lycomedes’ daughters garments and weapons. Achilles, still in girls’ clothes, betrays himself by being the only one to take up arms (Ovid, Metamorphoses 13, 160-170) – a scene highlighting the classical themes of deception and fate.

Guy Delmarcel (Flemish Tapestry, Tielt & London, 1999, p. 324) convincingly argues the famous Brussels tapestry workshop of Gaspar and Jan-Frans van der Borcht had commissioned the painter Jan van Orley (1665–1735) for the models and cartoons of this tapestry set. Van Orley borrowed heavily from Peter Paul Ruben’s earlier designs for a set of tapestries with the same story, with elements in the present depiction clearly inspired directly by Rubens (Rubens painting of the same subject, c. 1630-35 is now at the Prado Museum, Madrid).

A Brussels Mythological Tapestry from the Series The Life of Achilles