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Mercury Changes Aglauros to Stone, from the Story of Mercury and Herse

Designer Design attributed to Giovanni Battista Lodi da Cremona Italian
Designer Border design attributed to Giovanni Francesco Penni Italian
Workshop director Weaving workshop directed by Willem de Pannemaker Flemish
designed ca. 1540, woven ca. 1570
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 520
Picking up the narrative from the tapestry of Aglauros’s Vision of the Bridal Chamber of Herse (also in The Met's collection, 41.190.135), this is the final episode in the story of the god Mercury’s love for the mortal princess of Athens, Herse. Emboldened by her jealous vision of Mercury and Herse’s union, Herse’s sister Aglauros barred his entry to her sister’s apartments. In his anger and frustration, Mercury transformed Aglauros into stone; in the tapestry, we see her disappearing into the door-frame. Mercury can seen again at the right, flying away and leaving the longed-for union with Herse unfulfilled. Such was the appeal of Lodi’s designs for this tapestry series that his cartoon-models were used, and reused, for decades: Willem de Pannnemaker, one of the most admired and successful master-weavers working in Brussels, directed the weaving of this sumptuous edition approximately thirty years after it was designed.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mercury Changes Aglauros to Stone, from the Story of Mercury and Herse
  • Designer: Design attributed to Giovanni Battista Lodi da Cremona (Italian, active 1540–52)
  • Designer: Border design attributed to Giovanni Francesco Penni (Italian, Florence ca. 1496–after 1528 Naples) ,from the set of the "Acts of the Apostles"
  • Workshop director: Weaving workshop directed by Willem de Pannemaker (Flemish, active Brussels, 1535–78, died 1581)
  • Date: designed ca. 1540, woven ca. 1570
  • Culture: Netherlandish, Brussels
  • Medium: Wool, silk and precious metal-wrapped threads (20-22 warps per inch, 8-9 warps per cm.)
  • Dimensions: 170 1/16 x 283 1/16 in. (432 x 719 cm); weight confirmed, includes tube: 14 ft. 9 in. × 23 ft. 6 in., 199 lb. (449.6 × 716.3 cm, 90.3 kg)
  • Classification: Textiles-Tapestries
  • Credit Line: Bequest of George Blumenthal, 1941
  • Object Number: 41.190.134
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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Aglauros’s Vision of the Bridal Chamber of Herse, from the Story of Mercury and Herse
designed ca. 1540, woven ca. 1570
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Celestial globe with clockwork, Gerhard Emmoser German, Case: partially gilded silver, gilded brass; movement: brass, steel, Austrian, Vienna
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Design for a Wall Tomb or Monument (Recto); Smaller Variant Version with Half Length Madonna & Child on Crescent Moon (Verso), Giovanni Francesco Penni Italian, Pen and brown ink
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Attributed to Giovanni Francesco Penni
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