Mercury tells Aeneas to Leave Carthage (1679): Art, History and Details

Mercury tells Aeneas to Leave Carthage (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:

The supreme god, Jupiter, sends his messenger Mercury to the Trojan hero Aeneas to urge him to continue his voyage and leave Carthage in order to fulfil his destiny, to found Rome.

Object facts

• Title: Mercury tells Aeneas to Leave Carthage
• 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: 411 x 337 cm (161 13/16 x 132 11/16 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1915.79.6

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.
• Brosens, Koenraad, and Yvan Maes de Wit. "The Story of Dido and Aeneas from Cleveland Museum of Art: Tapestry conservation Using Laid-Couching Stitches." In Tapestry Production & Conservation: 125 Years De Wit Royal Manufacturers of Tapestry. Koenraad Brosens, Yvan Maes De Wit, 232-235. London; Turnhout: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2019

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.