Diana and her Nymphs

Laurent de La Hyre

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This tapestry depicts the goddess Diana bathing with her nymphs after the hunt (in classical legend, Diana was the goddess of the hunt). The scene takes place before the ruins of a classical temple, beyond which an idealized landscape stretches into the distance. The elaborate borders feature a frieze populated by classical deities between cartouches depicting the signs of the zodiac. The floral cartouches in the corners surround images of a phoenix, a bird of paradise, a dolphin, and a lion. The tapestry was one of at least six depicting scenes from classical mythology, after paintings by Laurent de la Hyre (the original painting for this scene is now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California). A similar set of tapestries, with variant borders, is recorded in the collection of Louis XIV.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art