Psyche's Entrance into Cupid's Palace from the Story of Psyche

Textiles

1756/63

After a cartoon by François Boucher (1703–1770)
Woven at the Manufacture Royale de Beauvais (French, founded 1664) under the direction of André Charlemagne Charron (French, director 1754–80)
France, Beauvais

A delicate lilting sensibility suffuses this tapestry inspired by ancient Roman mythology. Beautiful young attendants of the gods and goddesses, known as nymphs, play music to celebrate the arrival of Princess Psyche at Cupid’s palace. Cupid, the god of love, hid Psyche from the envious gaze of his mother, Venus, the goddess of beauty and fruitfulness. The graceful forms of the nymphs’ bodies complement the soaring architecture of the palace interior. The flower garland wrapped around the column, as well as the lush folding of the figures’ garment and the rug, further enhance the sensorially rich world the tapestry depicts. Unsurprisingly, contemporary operatic interpretations of the story of Cupid and Psyche influenced François Boucher’s design.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Artist: François Boucher
Title: Psyche's Entrance into Cupid's Palace from the Story of Psyche
Place: Beauvais (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1756–1763
Medium: Wool and silk; tapestry weave
Dimensions: 170.2 × 357 cm (67 × 140 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Chauncey McCormick and Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson
Reference Number: 1943.1237
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/49225/manifest.json

Selected Works of 18th Century French Art in the Collection of The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1976), 199, plate 314 a.
Bremer-David 1997, pp. 117, 119 n. 44.
Koenraad Brosens, ed., Christa C. Mayer Thurman, gen. ed., European Tapestries in the Art Institute of Chicago, exh. cat., [exhibition: “The Divine Art: Four Centuries of European Tapestries in the Art Institute of Chicago”] (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2008) 278-283, cat. 46B.

Art Institute of Chicago, Selected Works of Eighteenth Century French Art in the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, Jan. 24–March 28, 1976.
Art Institute of Chicago, Tapestries from the Permanent Collection, June 30–Sept. 30, 1979.
Art Institute of Chicago, Regenstein Hall, The Divine Art: Four Centuries of European Tapestry, Nov. 1, 2008–Jan. 4, 2009.
Art Institute of Chicago, Music and Movement: Rhythm in Textile Design, May 18, 2018-Jan. 6, 2019.

Possibly commissioned by the French crown for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and woven between July 12, 1756 and March 18, 1758 OR possibly commissioned by Cottin (possibly Jean Cottin, also known as Jean-Baptiste Cotton de Houssayes, a medical doctor and the librarian of the Sorbonne) and woven between September 5, 1761 and April 23, 1763; an unidentified European nobleman; William T. Blodgett (1823-1875), New York, from 1871; by descent to his daughter, Miss Eleanor Blodgett (1855-1930), New York, by 1875; sold to French & Company, New York, February 26, 1917; Charles Deering (1852-1927), as a pair but individually framed, December 17 or 18, 1918; by descent to his two daughters, Marion Deering (Mrs. Chauncey McCormick, 1886-1965) and Barbara Deering (Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson, 1888-1987), 1927; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1943.

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Psyche's Entrance into Cupid's Palace from the Story of Psyche

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.