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The Glorification of Apollo, 1717

  • wool (textile), silk (textile)
  • 408 x 330 cm
  • Inv. 1994-F-2

Public Domain

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In 1716, the Viscounty of the Oudburg in Ghent commissioned a series of tapestries devoted to the Exaltation of the Gods. The Viscounty was a fief of the County of Flanders, located within the walls of the Counts’ Castle. Barely a year later, the tapestries were hung in the Castellany. The Oudburg arms appears in the middle of each tapestry. Oudburg College was closed down during the period of French revolutionary occupation and the Viscounty building was demolished. The series ended up in the Museum of Fine Art in 1904, having had several homes in the interim. The second tapestry shows The Exaltation of Apollo. The Sun God sits at the edge of a wood on Parnassus – the mountain dedicated to him. He strums his favourite instrument, the lyre, while surrounded by six muses who play music and sing. He wears a laurel crown as the creator of divine music. Three vaguely represented figures can be made out in the midst of an Arcadian landscape. They probably represent the remaining three of the nine muses of Antiquity. The muses were a symbol of wisdom, eloquence, even temper and the ability to sing the praises of gods and humans. The Exaltation of Apollo is a clear ode to civilisation.

Artist

Urbanus Leyniers RKD
Brussels 1674 - Brussels 1747
workshop / studio

Daniël II Leyniers RKD
Brussels 1669 - Brussels 1728
workshop / studio

Hendrik Reydams
Brussels 1600 - 1669
workshop / studio

Jan van Orley RKD Wikidata
Brussels 1665 - Brussels 1735
cartoons (working drawings)AAT

Aurèle Augustin Coppens
Brussels 1668 - Brussels 1740
cartoons (working drawings)AAT

Title The Glorification of Apollo
Date 1717
Period 18th century
Location Brussels TGN
Collection decorative arts (discipline) AAT
Object type tapestries AAT
Inventory number 1994-F-2
Acquisition credit transfer
Stadhuis
Ghent
1994
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1994-F-2
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/3957/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300417629 mythologies (religious concept) AAT
25H landscapes Iconclass
Keywords Iconclass 25G3 trees Iconclass
25G4111(+1) garland, wreath (+ plants used symbolically) Iconclass
25H11 mountains Iconclass
48C7321 lyre, cithara, psaltery Iconclass
9 Classical Mythology and Ancient History Iconclass
92 gods ~ classical mythology Iconclass
92B the great gods of Heaven, and their train Iconclass
92B3 (story of) Apollo (Phoebus) Iconclass
92B37 specific aspects, allegorical aspects of Apollo; Apollo as patron Iconclass
92B373 Apollo playing the lyre, Apollo Citharoedus Iconclass
92B3731 Apollo and the Muses, Apollo Musagetes Iconclass
93C Parnassus, sacred to Apollo Musagetes Iconclass
School / Style Rococo AAT
'Tapijtwerkers en tapijtwerk te Gent', in: Duizend jaar kunst en cultuur / Erik Duverger. - Gent : [s.n.] : [s.a.] (dl. III, p. 550-557)
'De triomf van Mars, een Brussels wandtapijt in de Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst / Ingrid De Meûter. - Brussel : [s.n.] : [s.a.] (p. 123-137)
200 jaar verzamelen : Collectieboek Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Arnout Balis, Robert Hoozee, Maximiliaan P.J. Martens, Paul Van Haute. - Gent : Ludion, 2000 (p. 108 (ill. 49), 270)
Het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : een keuze uit de mooiste werken / Patrick De Rynck. - Gent : Ludion, 2007 (p. 54-55 (ill.))
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