This tapestry was designed by Frans Cleyn and woven by the Mortlake Tapestry Manufactory between 1650 and 1670. It depicts the tragic demise of the mythological family of Niobe—daughter of the Lydian King Tantalus and the wife of King Amphion of Thebes. Niobe’s husband, Amphion, was a son of Zeus, and together they produced a household of godly children. The ancient poet, Homer, wrote that she had twelve offspring, but many other writers recorded that she had fourteen. The sexes of her children were split evenly in all accounts of her myth; there were either six or seven sons and six or seven daughters. These children were Niobe’s pride, joy, and proudest achievement.
Niobe’s high esteem and love for her family would, horrifically, one day bring destruction upon everyone she cherished. It all began when she acted disrespectfully during a ceremony that honored the titan goddess Leto, mother of the twin deities, Artemis and Apollo. Niobe was said to have likened her own motherhood to the goddess’ family, and it was a comparison that proud Leto did not appreciate. In one version of the myth, Leto asked her divine children to go repay the mortal woman’s presumptiveness by destroying the family that Niobe so loved. In other versions of the story, Leto’s famous divine twins sought out retribution against Niobe without any instruction from their mother. Either way, both versions of the story resulted in the two powerful twins setting out with deadly intent to defend Leto’s honor.
Upon the arrival of Artemis and Apollo at Niobe’s home, a terrible massacre ensued in which the majority of the family was slaughtered. Apollo rained down arrows on all of Niobe’s sons and Artemis loosed her own deadly volleys against the queen’s daughters. It is this scene of Artemis and Apollo destroying the family of Niobe that the tapestry re-creates in its weaving. Curiously, in one version of the myth, Chloris—the youngest daughter of the family—survived the godly assault and went on to live a normal life as the wife of Neleus and the mother of Nestor at Pylos. Chloris’ parents, however, did not fare as well. King Amphion and Queen Niobe suffered mental breakdowns after the harrowing and horrible massacre of their children. Niobe ultimately perished from sadness and famously transformed into stone. Similarly, King Amphion took his own life as a result of his grief and rage.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The Iliad by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and edited by Peter Jones. New York: Penguin Classics, 2014.
- Apollodorus, The Library of Greek Mythology, translated by Robin Hard. New York, Oxford University Press, 1997.
- https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/226098
