Dido and Aeneas seek shelter from a storm (1679): Art, History and Details

Dido and Aeneas seek shelter from a storm (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:

During a hunting party, Dido and Aeneas are caught in a storm and flee to shelter. Cupid and Hymen, the god of marriage, bless them from above. Servants are working to attend to the frightened horses while on a branch, the owl of evil beats his wings ominously.

Object facts

• Title: Dido and Aeneas seek shelter from a storm
• 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: 416.4 x 418.8 cm (163 15/16 x 164 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1915.79.5

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.

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.