The Month of June/The Sign of Cancer, from The Grotesque Months

Description

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. June, with the sign of Cancer—a crab—in the oval at the top of the tapestry, shows the messenger god Mercury. Above and below Mercury appear his associated attributes, including his emblematic rooster, and a miniature scene showing an episode from the tale of his sly betrayal and murder of the giant Argus. These tapestries are in the light, open style inspired by Renaissance artists’ rediscovery and reinterpretation of the Classical wall paintings found among the buried ruins of ancient buildings, called grotti, or caves. By the later 17th century, this so-called grotesque style appealed to an elite group of French aristocrats led by Louis, the Grand Dauphin (1682–1712), son and heir of Louis XIV (r. 1715–74).

The Month of June/The Sign of Cancer, from The Grotesque Months

Claude III Audran

c. 1726

Accession Number

75668

Medium

Wool and silk, slit and double interlocking tapestry weave

Dimensions

71.5 × 293.7 cm (28 1/8 × 115 5/8 in.)

Classification

weaving - tapestry

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Bessie Bennett Endowment