Harvard Art Museums > 1950.90: Achilles Among the Daughters of Lycomedes Textile Arts Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Achilles Among the Daughters of Lycomedes (Unidentified Artist) , 1950.90,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Jan 08, 2025, https://hvrd.art/o/214636. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1950.90 People Unidentified Artist Title Achilles Among the Daughters of Lycomedes Classification Textile Arts Work Type tapestry Date c. 1500 Places Creation Place: Europe, Belgium, Brussels Culture Flemish? Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/214636 Physical Descriptions Medium Textile fibers Dimensions 261.6 x 264.2 cm (103 x 104 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Mrs. Solomon R. Guggenheim, New York, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1950 Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Mrs. Solomon R. Guggenheim Accession Year 1950 Object Number 1950.90 Division European and American Art Contact am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description This Brussels tapestry depicts Achilles Among the Daughters of Lycomedes. The scene shows Ulysses dressed as a street vendor selling jewelry and other wares to Lycomedes' daughters, including Achilles who is disguised as one of them. Achilles has turned his attention to a gauntlet and a small explosive, while the real women admire the jewelry. The closest textual source for this image is Boccaccio's Genealogia deorum (available in French translation from 1498 on), which recounts that Ulysses disguised himself as a merchant in order to identify Achilles who was disguised as one of Lycomedes' daughter (McGrath). One well-known, later example of the same subject is Rubens' tapestry from the Life of Achilles series, dated to the mid seventeenth-century (although in our example the tapestry belongs to a Life of Ulysses series). Despite the antique subject matter, the figures are attired in contemporary courtly costumes. Publication History Jean-Paul Asselberghs, Les tapisseries flamandes aux états-unis d'amérique, Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire (Brussels, 1974), p.14 Exhibition History The World of the Middle Ages in the Thiebold Schilling Chronicle, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 10/07/1974 - 11/08/1974 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
