About This Artwork
The Month of July/The Sign of Leo, from The Grotesque Monthsc. 1726
Wool and silk, slit and double interlocking tapestry weave
66.5 x 293.6 cm (26 1/8 x 115 1/2 in.)
Bessie Bennett Endowment, 1951.261
Textiles
Not on Display
This narrow panel and its companion belong to a suite known as The Grotesque Months, which depicts the 12 months of the year and their associated zodiac signs. A Roman deity, centrally positioned within a pergola, personifies each month. July, with the sign of Leo—a lion—appears in a grisaille cartouche near the top of this tapestry. The bearded Jupiter sits on a great eagle amid storm clouds, and the fleece and head of Amalthea, the goat that suckled the infant god, hangs from the top of the pergola. Other attributes associated with Jupiter appear above and below the god.