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The Glorification of Minerva, 1717

  • wool (textile), silk (textile)
  • 408 x 555 cm
  • Inv. 1994-F-5

Public Domain

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In 1716, the Viscounty of the Oudburg in Ghent commissioned a series of tapestries devoted to the Exaltation of the Gods. The Viscounty was a fief of the County of Flanders, located within the walls of the Counts’ Castle. Barely a year later, the tapestries were hung in the Castellany. The Oudburg arms appears in the middle of each tapestry. Oudburg College was closed down during the period of French revolutionary occupation and the Viscounty building was demolished. The series ended up in the Museum of Fine Art in 1904, having had several homes in the interim. The Exaltation of Minerva focuses again on the importance of civilisation. Minerva, like Apollo, is presented as the opposite of Mars. She sprang from the head of Jupiter, making her the Goddess of Wisdom, Knowledge and Peace. Minerva is a warlike goddess with the strength to impose peace and to protect civilisation, which are represented here by a variety of allegorical figures. The woman at her side, with the Horn of Plenty under her arm, is a symbol of Prosperity. Other figures include Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Science, Poetry and Music, all of whom have come to pay homage to Minerva. Two cherubs destroy instruments of war in the foreground, while Fame trumpets forth Minerva’s victory – the conquest of mindless violence by reason. The farmer ploughing his field and the harbour in the background represent Agriculture and Trade.

Artist

Urbanus Leyniers RKD
Brussels 1674 - Brussels 1747
workshop / studio

Daniël II Leyniers RKD
Brussels 1669 - Brussels 1728
workshop / studio

Hendrik Reydams
Brussels 1600 - 1669
workshop / studio

Jan van Orley RKD Wikidata
Brussels 1665 - Brussels 1735
cartoons (working drawings)AAT

Aurèle Augustin Coppens
Brussels 1668 - Brussels 1740
cartoons (working drawings)AAT

Title The Glorification of Minerva
Date 1717
Period 18th century
Location Brussels TGN
Collection decorative arts (discipline) AAT
Object type tapestries AAT
Inventory number 1994-F-5
Acquisition credit transfer
Stadhuis
Ghent
1994
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1994-F-5
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/3960/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300417629 mythologies (religious concept) AAT
300015636 landscapes AAT
Keywords Iconclass 25G3(PALM-TREE) trees: palm-tree Iconclass
9 Classical Mythology and Ancient History Iconclass
480 symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ art; 'Arte' (Ripa) Iconclass
48C20 'Sculptura', symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ sculpture; 'Scoltura' (Ripa) Iconclass
48C24 piece of sculpture, reproduction of a piece of sculpture Iconclass
92 gods ~ classical mythology Iconclass
92C the great goddesses of Heaven, and their train Iconclass
92C2 (story of) Minerva (Pallas, Athena) Iconclass
92C27 specific aspects, allegorical aspects of Minerva; Minerva as patroness Iconclass
92C271 Minerva as patroness Iconclass
92D1916 cupids: 'amores', 'amoretti', 'putti' Iconclass
School / Style Rococo AAT
'Tapijtwerkers en tapijtwerk te Gent', in: Duizend jaar kunst en cultuur / Erik Duverger. - Gent : [s.n.] : [s.a.] (dl. III, p. 550-557)
'De triomf van Mars, een Brussels wandtapijt in de Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst / Ingrid De Meûter. - Brussel : [s.n.] : [s.a.] (p. 123-137)
200 jaar verzamelen : Collectieboek Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Arnout Balis, Robert Hoozee, Maximiliaan P.J. Martens, Paul Van Haute. - Gent : Ludion, 2000 (p. 109 (ill. 51), 270)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl.I, p. 6 (ill.))
Het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : een keuze uit de mooiste werken / Patrick De Rynck. - Gent : Ludion, 2007 (p. 54-55)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : De collectie (tentoonstelling vanaf 21 maart 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2021
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand : La Collection (exposition dès le 21 mars 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2021
The Cinquantenaire Tapestries : The Collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History (Brussels) / Guy Delmarcel, Ingrid De Meûter, Werner Adriaenssens. - Brussels : Royal Museums of Art and History, 2023 ; Ghent : Snoeck, 2023 (pp.311-312)
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