Tickets
English
DonateMembership
Tickets

Boreas and Orithyia from a set of scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses

Designer René Antoine Houasse French
Manufactory Beauvais
designed ca. 1690, woven before 1730
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 551
Maidens gathering flowers are plunged into disarray as, drapery billowing, winged Boreas, god of the North Wind, wraps Orithyia, a mortal princess of Athens, in his burly arms. Frustrated by her father’s refusal to approve his marriage request, Boreas carries her off regardless, in a sharp diagonal thrust out of the picture plane, towards his home in Thrace.


This tapestry was made as part of a popular series, eventually numbering eight or nine episodes, illustrating scenes from the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a lengthy, magical poem loosely narrating a Classical history of the world.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Boreas and Orithyia from a set of scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses
  • Designer: René Antoine Houasse (French, Paris 1645–1710 Paris)
  • Manufactory: Beauvais
  • Date: designed ca. 1690, woven before 1730
  • Culture: French, Beauvais
  • Medium: Wool, silk, metal thread (19-22 warps per inch, 7-9 per cm.)
  • Dimensions: 11 ft. 8 in. × 14 ft. 11 in. (355.6 × 454.7 cm) (as measured by Textile Conservation in 1984)
  • Classification: Textiles-Tapestries
  • Credit Line: Gift of Frances L. Kellogg, 1977
  • Object Number: 1977.435
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Carpet, Beauvais, Wool, French, Beauvais
Carpet
Manufactory Beauvais
ca. 1787–90
Guitar, Jean-Baptiste Voboam French, Spruce, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, ivory, ebony, French
Guitar
attributed to Jean-Baptiste Voboam
1697
Tapestry Room from Croome Court, Robert Adam British, Scottish, Plaster, pine, mahogany, bronze-gilt, marble, lapis lazuli, steel; wool and silk (22-24 warps per inch, 9-10 per centimeter), British, Worcestershire with French, Paris (Gobelins) tapestry
Tapestry Room from Croome Court
Multiple artists/makers
1763–71
Cabinet on stand, Jan van Mekeren Dutch, Oak veneered with rosewood, olivewood, ebony, holly, tulipwood, barberry and other partly green-stained marquetry woods, Dutch, Amsterdam
Cabinet on stand
Attributed to Jan van Mekeren
ca. 1700–1710
Four upholstery panels for a settee, Beauvais, Wool and silk, French, Beauvais
Four upholstery panels for a settee
Multiple artists/makers
1754–56

Related Content

Perspectives

Articles, audio, and video from The Met's online magazine.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.