A canopied dais provides the framework for the marriage scene. Paris sits next to his mother and holds the ring up for her examination. Helen wears the same dress as in the Arrival, with a veil draped over her arm; she kneels below them, along with the other ladies of the court. Elevated behind them, King Priam sits under the wedding canopy alongside another nobleman, possibly Hector, who would then be accompanied by his wife, Andromache. Pale woven captions in Latin identify Helen on the floor to her right; those of Paris and Hector are above their heads, and Priam’s identification is to his left. The figures are not dressed in ancient Greek attire but in the richly decorated garments contemporary to the period and appropriate to their status. The luxurious nature of these tapestries and the intimacy of their scenes suggest that they were likely displayed in smaller public rooms, or even the private room of a residence.
Details
- Title: Marriage of Paris and Helen
- Date: c. 1500
- Medium: Wool and silk threads
- Dimensions: 146-1/4 x 134-1/2 in. (371.4 x 341.6 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1965.1.129.2.T
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Loan to Metropolitan Museum of Art Permanent Collection
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1966-10-25 to 1971-03-17
Once Upon a Tapestry: Woven Tales of Helen and Dido
- Norton Simon Museum, 2018-12-07 to 2019-05-27
- King, Donald, The Connoisseur, repr. fig. 2 pp. 232-237
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- World Journal Tribune, 1966,
- Knox, Sanka, The New York Times, 1966, p. 53
- Scherer, Margaret R., The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 1967, figs. 13, 14, 15 pp. 372-381
- Asselberghs, Jean-Paul, Les Tapisseries Flamandes Aux Etats-Unis D'Amerique, 1974, p. 37
- Kem, J., Jean Lemaire de Belges' 'Les illustrations de Gaule et singularitez de Troye': The Trojen Legend in the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance, 1994, pl. 7 pp. 127, 136, 177-178
- Morrison, Elizabeth et. al., Imagining the Past in France, 2010, Fig. 52 p. 301
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. D95 p. 448
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