id:			133715
accession number:	1956.325.3
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1956.325.3
updated:		2023-03-09 12:48:03.880000

Apollo and the Serpent Python (from Set of Ovid's Metamorphoses), 1700–1730. Gobelins Manufactory (France, Paris, est. 1662), after Nicolas Bertin (French, 1668–1736). Tapestry weave; overall: 328 x 393 cm (129 1/8 x 154 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Matthias Plum 1956.325.3

title:				Apollo and the Serpent Python (from Set of Ovid's Metamorphoses)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1700–1730
creation date earliest:		1700
creation date latest:		1730
current location:		
creditline:			Gift of Mrs. Matthias Plum
copyright:			

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culture:	France, 18th century
technique:	tapestry weave
department:	Textiles
collection:	Textiles
type:		Tapestry
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Gobelins Manufactory (France, Paris, est. 1662)  - manufacturer
For more information: http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000032919
* Nicolas Bertin (French, 1668–1736)  - artist

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measurements: Overall: 328 x 393 cm (129 1/8 x 154 3/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1956–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
During the French Revolution, Gobelins tapestries were sometimes disassembled to harvest the gold threads.

digital description:
Apollo’s dynamic posture with his right arm pulled back and his left holding a bow indicates that he has just shot the arrow piercing the snarling serpent’s throat and body. Apollo’s triumph over powerful Python, the fearsome serpent offspring of Mother Earth or Gaia, boosted his ego tremendously, leading to his tragically unsuccessful pursuit of Daphne. The regally dressed hunter and his prey are seen alone in an environment teeming with natural life that includes a pumpkin patch. In the creation of this textile, the manufacturer used blue and yellow dye to create the color green which has since degraded, causing the pumpkins and their leaves to appear blue.

wall description:

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Malloy, Katherine R. “Three Eighteenth-Century Gobelins Tapestries.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>44, no. 2 (1957): 24–27.
	page number: 	Mentioned: P. 25-27; Reproduced: P. 24
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25142185

	Standen, Edith A. “Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’: A Gobelins Tapestry Series.” <em>Metropolitan Museum Journal</em> 23 (1988): 149–191.
	page number: 	Mentioned: P. 162, 167, 188; Reproduced: P. 166, fig. 23
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/1512852

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.325.3/1956.325.3_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.325.3/1956.325.3_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.325.3/1956.325.3_full.tif