AN AUBUSSON VERDURE TAPESTRY, PROBABLY FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY

AN AUBUSSON VERDURE TAPESTRYPROBABLY FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURYPortraying a scene from the 'Dream of Endymion', depicting Endymion cradled by Selene, surrounded by nymphs, in a dream-like classical garden, bordered by plentiful garlands of roses, tulips and other flowers. Approximately 300cm x 280cmProvenance: Supplied by Robert Kime The present tapestry depicts what could be considered a conglomeration of the many various version of the Endymion myth.One version of the myth sees Selene, the goddess of the moon, in love with the mortal Endymion. Believing him to be so beautiful, she asked Endymion's father, Zeus, to grant him eternal youth so that he would never leave her. Alternatively, another tale suggests that Selene so loved how Endymion looked when he was asleep in the cave on Mount Latmus, that she entreated Zeus that he might remain that way. Zeus granted Selene's wish and put Endymion into an eternal sleep. Every night, Selene visited him where he slept, and by him had fifty daughters who are equated by some scholars with the fifty months of the Olympiad.According to a passage in Deipnosophistae, the sophist and dithyrambic poet Licymnius of Chios tells a different tale, in which Hypnos, the god of sleep, seen here gazing at Endymion from behind a tree, in awe of his beauty, causes him to sleep with his eyes open, so he can fully admire his face. Sleep and dreams play a symbolic role in the relationship between the mortal and the divine. In art and literature, Endymion's love of the moon is often portrayed as a kind of unrequited passion which symbolises humanity's obsession with the unattainable. At the outset, Endymion is literally 'moonstruck', in love with something far beyond his reach and outside of his natural sphere. Endymion's love for the goddess who cradles him stands as a symbol of human longing for the divine in general - with the ideas of beauty, life and feeling as perfect and eternal states.Condition Report: 293cm high, 398cm wideThe measurement should read 400cm wide. It is rectangular and not almost square as the catalogue suggests.Some areas of restoration, particularly a section of the upper right edge. Small patches of restoration overall. Not fully backed, only vertical strips, see images Condition Report Disclaimer