The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 1, 2023

Story of Perseus and Andromeda

early 1500s

Netherlands, early 16th century

Tapestry weave: wool and silk

Overall: 320.5 x 446.8 cm (126 3/16 x 175 7/8 in.)

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1927.487

Location

not on view

Description

The Greek mythological story of Perseus and Andromeda is represented here as a quest for a maiden, read from right to left in three sections. At the upper right, Andromeda has been chained to a rock by her parents, at the lower right, as a sacrifice to a dragon sent by Poseidon, god of the sea. In the center on a millefleur (floral) ground, Perseus on horseback kills the dreaded dragon. Within the castle at the left, Perseus kneels before an altar, and at the far left, he marries Andromeda.

Provenance
Sir Edgar Speyer, England; (P. W. French & Co., New York).
Citations
Milliken, William M. ""Perseus and Andromeda," a Gothic Tapestry in the John Huntington Collection." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 14, no. 3 (March 1927): 34-40. Mentioned and reproduced: 34-40 www.jstor.org
Siple, Ella S. "A Late Gothic Tapestry at Cleveland." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 51, no. 293 (August 1927): 99-100. Mentioned: P. 99-100 www.jstor.org
"A Gothic Tapestry." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 51, no. 294 (September 1927): 149-150. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 149-150 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. Reproduced: p. 24-25 archive.org
Gibson, Katharine. The Goldsmith of Florence; A Book of Great Craftsmen. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1929. Reproduced: P. 3
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 186 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 72 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 72 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 82 archive.org
Exhibition history

Cleveland Museum of Art, "Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition" [June 26-Oct. 4, 1936].

The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 12, 1936).

Gallery One 2012. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2012-March 5, 2017).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1927.487