Cupid disguised as Aeneas's son, presents gifts to Dido (1679): Art, History and Details

Cupid disguised as Aeneas's son, presents gifts to Dido (1679) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (Italian, 1610–1662); Michael Wauters (Flemish, 1679).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Achates, with spear in hand, presents Cupid, who is disguised as Aeneas's son, to Queen Dido. He offers her gifts to encourage her to love Aeneas who is seated at her side. Attendants are preparing a banquet that Dido is giving in honor of Aeneas and his companions.

Object facts

• Title: Cupid disguised as Aeneas's son, presents gifts to Dido
• Date: 1679
• Creator attribution: Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (Italian, 1610–1662); Michael Wauters (Flemish, 1679)
• Culture: Belgium, 17th century
• Type: Tapestry
• Technique: tapestry weave: silk and wool
• Dimensions: Overall: 418.8 x 634.6 cm (164 7/8 x 249 13/16 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1915.79.2

A detail from the museum

This tapestry is one from a series of eight that depicts the tragic love story of Dido and Aeneas. They were gifted to the museum for display in the armor court.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. Francis F. Prentiss, in memory of Dr. Dudley P. Allen

Further reading listed by the museum

• W. M. M. "Gothic Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 6, no. 4 (1919): 67-70.
• BREMER-DAVID, CHARISSA. "French & Company and American Collections of Tapestries, 1907-1959." Studies in the Decorative Arts 11, no. 1 (2003): 38-68.
• Catterson, Lynn. Florence, Berlin and Beyond : Late Nineteenth-Century Art Markets and Their Social Networks. Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2020.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.