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Apollo and the Serpent Python (from Set of Ovid's Metamorphoses)
manufacturer Gobelins Manufactory (France, Paris, est. 1662)
after Nicolas Bertin (French, 1668–1736)
1700–1730
- Medium
- tapestry weave
- Classification
- Tapestry
- Dimensions
- Overall: 328 x 393 cm (129 1/8 x 154 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- France
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Textiles
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Matthias Plum
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Apollo’s dynamic posture with his right arm pulled back and his left holding a bow indicates that he has just shot the arrow piercing the snarling serpent’s throat and body. Apollo’s triumph over powerful Python, the fearsome serpent offspring of Mother Earth or Gaia, boosted his ego tremendously, leading to his tragically unsuccessful pursuit of Daphne. The regally dressed hunter and his prey are seen alone in an environment teeming with natural life that includes a pumpkin patch. In the creation of this textile, the manufacturer used blue and yellow dye to create the color green which has since degraded, causing the pumpkins and their leaves to appear blue.
