Venus and Adonis (?) with the Duck Hunt

Curatorial Overview

“Based on the 10th book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, this scene may depict the goddess Venus and the hunter Adonis at the moment in which she warns him about the dangers of hunting. Ignoring her warning, Adonis is later killed by a boar. In the background, men in contemporary dress conduct a hunt, a popular pastime of the privileged elite. The border of the tapestry displays an array of allegorical, biblical, and mythological scenes and figures. Overall the composition gives the impression of receding space, which is characteristic of late 16th- and early 17th-century Flemish production.”