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A Brussels tapestry with the mythology scenery “Love of the Gods - Apollo”. Shortly after Apollo's birth, Zeus gave him a chariot drawn by swans and ordered him to go to Delphi. The god did not obey immediately but flew in his chariot to the land of the Hyperboreans, which, according to some versions, is the homeland of Leto. There lives a sacred people who know neither old age nor sickness; the sun shines there permanently. Apollo stayed there for a year before leaving for Delphi. He returns there every nineteen years, at the end of which the stars have completed a complete revolution (a metric cycle). From the spring equinox to the dawn of the Pleiades, he dances there every night accompanied by the lyre. Reduced in size (missing borders). A fine weave tapestry made in wool and silk with fresh colours. 17th century. 376×240 cm.

Apollo is paradoxically perhaps the most Greek of all gods and has a long history in Greece before the classical period. Apollo is the Greek god of the arts, singing, music, male beauty, poetry and light. He is the conductor of the nine muses. Apollo is also the god of purification and healing, but can bring plague by his bow; finally, he is one of the main gods capable of divination, consulted, among others, in Delphi, where he returned his oracles through the Pythia of Delphi. He was also honoured by the Romans, who adopted him very quickly without changing his name. As early as the 5th century BC, they adopted him for his healing powers and built temples for him.

Condition

Condition report on request. Please contact: carpets@bruun-rasmussen.dk

Auction

Furniture, bronzes, carpets, silver, glass & porcelain, Avening Court part II, 16 September 2020

Category
Estimate

60,000 DKK

Sold

Price realised

50,000 DKK