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 Exaltation of Minerva focuses again on the importance of civilisation. Minerva, like Apollo, is presented as the opposite of Mars. She sprang from the head of Jupiter, making her the Goddess of Wisdom, Knowledge and Peace. Minerva is a warlike goddess with the strength to impose peace and to protect civilisation, which are represented here by a variety of allegorical figures. The woman at her side, with the Horn of Plenty under her arm, is a symbol of Prosperity. Other figures include Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Science, Poetry and Music, all of whom have come to pay homage to Minerva. Two cherubs destroy instruments of war in the foreground, while Fame trumpets forth Minerva’s victory – the conquest of mindless violence by reason. The farmer ploughing his field and the harbour in the background represent Agriculture and Trade.
| Artist |
Urbanus Leyniers
RKD
|
|---|---|
|
Daniël II Leyniers
RKD
|
|
|
Hendrik Reydams
|
|
|
Jan van Orley
RKD
Wikidata
|
|
|
Aurèle Augustin Coppens
|
|
| Title | The Glorification of Minerva |
| Date | 1717 |
| Period | 18th century |
| Location | Brussels TGN |
| Collection | decorative arts (discipline) AAT |
| Object type | tapestries AAT |
| Inventory number | 1994-F-5 |
| Acquisition credit |
transfer
Stadhuis Ghent 1994 |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1994-F-5 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/3960/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300417629
mythologies (religious concept)
AAT
300015636 landscapes AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
25G3(PALM-TREE)
trees: palm-tree
Iconclass
9 Classical Mythology and Ancient History Iconclass 480 symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ art; 'Arte' (Ripa) Iconclass 48C20 'Sculptura', symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ sculpture; 'Scoltura' (Ripa) Iconclass 48C24 piece of sculpture, reproduction of a piece of sculpture Iconclass 92 gods ~ classical mythology Iconclass 92C the great goddesses of Heaven, and their train Iconclass 92C2 (story of) Minerva (Pallas, Athena) Iconclass 92C27 specific aspects, allegorical aspects of Minerva; Minerva as patroness Iconclass 92C271 Minerva as patroness Iconclass 92D1916 cupids: 'amores', 'amoretti', 'putti' 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. 109 (ill. 51), 270) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl.I, p. 6 (ill.)) |
| Het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : een keuze uit de mooiste werken / Patrick De Rynck. - Gent : Ludion, 2007 (p. 54-55) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : De collectie (tentoonstelling vanaf 21 maart 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2021 |
| Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand : La Collection (exposition dès le 21 mars 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2021 |
| The Cinquantenaire Tapestries : The Collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History (Brussels) / Guy Delmarcel, Ingrid De Meûter, Werner Adriaenssens. - Brussels : Royal Museums of Art and History, 2023 ; Ghent : Snoeck, 2023 (pp.311-312) |
|
Do you have any suggestions, questions or information about this work? Write us, collectie.msk@stad.gent |
