This tapestry, designed by Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) and manufactured by the Manufacture des Gobelins during the reign of King Louis XIV (1643-1715), has been photographically released to the public by the French Mobilier National Collections and Isabelle Bideau under the Open License 2.0 (last updated in 2019). The tapestry depicts the family of the Greek sea-god, Poseidon, known also as Neptune to the Romans. Neptune/Poseidon rides front and center atop horses (created by Poseidon in Greek myth) and a diverse cast of sea creatures. The sea god is also accompanied by his wife, Amphitrite, and the two sons she had with Poseidon. On this family, a scholar known as Pseudo-Apollodorus (c. 1st-2nd century) wrote, “Poseidon married Amphitrite, and had as children Triton and Rhode” (Library, 1.4). Such is the mythological scene playing out in the tapestry. Poseidon and Amphitrite can be seen riding high and prominent above the waves, while their aquatic children, Triton and Rhode, mingle in the waters with the sea life of their father’s domain.
Picture Attribution: (Tapestry – The Elements Series: Water, or Neptune, designed by Charles Le Brun (1619 – 1690) and made by the Manufacture des Gobelins (17th century), [Open License 2.0.] via Isabelle Bideau, Mobilier national » date of last update, 2019.)
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Theogony and Works and Days by Hesiod, translated by M. L. West. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, 1999, 2008.
- https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/957/GMTT_64_003
- https://collection.mobilier-national.fr/objet/GMTT-64-003
