The Legend of Romulus and Remus: Romulus Brings the Head of Amulius...

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The Legend of Romulus and Remus: Romulus Brings the Head of Amulius...

Artist Frans Geubels (Flemish, after 1520-before 1585)

Place of OriginBrussels

Dateabout 1575-1585

Dimensions138 x 175 in. (350 x 454 cm)

MediumWool, silk and gold tapestry

ClassificationTextiles and Fiber

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott

Object number

1954.1

Not on View

Label TextTapestries were the most expensive household objects during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. This example comes from a series of eight (two in Toledo, six in Vienna) depicting Rome’s founding by the twins Romulus and Remus. The scene shows Romulus presenting the head of King Amulius to Numitor, who is seated beneath a canopy. Numitor was the grandfather of Romulus and Remus and the brother of Amulius, who had savagely overthrown him. Romulus slays the usurper and restores Rome to Numitor, the rightful king. The tapestry was made in the shop of Frans Geubels in Brussels. Brussels dominated 16th-century tapestry production through the quality of its designs, workshop organization, and its weavers’ technique. Most spectacular in this tapestry is the amount of costly gold and silver thread, rarely used in such profusion, but perhaps explained by its original owner: Archduke Matthias (1557–1619) of the powerful Hapsburg dynasty, who later became Holy Roman Emperor. The Latin inscription at top translates: “Amulius fell [died] having been pierced by Romulus’ sword when [where] the strength of the citadel had been weakened.”Published ReferencesBirk, Ernst Ritter von, "Inventar der im Besitz des Allerhochsten Kaiserhauses befindlichen Niederlander Tapeten und Gobelins," Jahrbuch des Kunsthistorischen Sammlung desk Allerhochsten Kaiserhauses, I, 1883, pp. 232-33.

Mencik, Ferdinand ed., "Dokumente zur Geschichte der Kaiserlichen Tapetzereisammlung des Allerhochsten Kiaserhauses," Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhochsten Kaiserhauses, XXX, 1911/12, part 2, p. XXXIV.

Gobel, Heinrich, Wandteppiche, I. Die Niederlande, Leipzig, 1923, p. 327.

Gobel, Heinrich, Tapestries of the Lowlands, New York, 1924, p. 64

Baldass, Ludwig, "Tapisserieenwurfe des niederlandischen Romanismus," Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen sammlungen in Wien, N.F. II, 1928, pp. 265-66.

Crick-Kuntziger, Marthe, "La tenure de l'histoire de Romulus d'Antoine Leyniers," Bulletin des Musees Royaux d'art et d'histoire, Brussels, vol. 20, no. 4-6, Jul.-Dec., 1948, p. 69.

Bennett, Anna Gray, Five Centuries of Tapestry from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1976, p. 150, fig. 57.

Mahl, Elizabeth, "Die Romulus und Remus - Folgen der Tapisseriensammlungen des Kunsthistorischen Museums," Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen sammlungen in Wien, LXI, 1965, pp. 10, 13, 22, 23, 27, 33ff, Abb.7.

Asselberghs, Jean-Paul, Les tapisseries flamandes aux etats-unis d'amerique

, Brussels, 1974, p.22.
Bennett, Anna Gray, Five Centuries of Tapestry from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1976, p. 150, fig. 57, p. 151.

cf. Christie's, New York, Objects of Art, fine French furniture..., Nov. 22, 1980, lot 276. Bennett, Anna Gray, Five Centuries of Tapestry from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, rev. ed., San Francisco, 1992, p. 166, fig. 64, p. 169

Adelson, Candace J., European tapestry in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts>/i>, Minneapolis, 1994, p. 135.