Hercules in the Tudor Bedroom at Athelhampton House & Gardens
At Athelhampton House & Gardens, we never sit still, even when it comes to events from 500 years ago. We're very much of the opinion that while history has already taken place, there are always more things to discover! And sometimes, we find out we were wrong.
A few months ago, we enhanced the Marriage Chamber - one of the Tudor bedrooms - at Athelhampton, rehanging an early seventeenth century Flemish tapestry there. Prior to this, it had spent many years on the minstrels’ gallery in Athelhampton's medieval Great Hall. Here, it ties together many layers of history. Rich Tudor panelling, a fifteenth century Italian Savonarola chair, an Elizabethan tester bed and a baby’s crib dated 1691, a tender reminder that these grand rooms were once lived in, not merely admired.
At the time it was rehung, we thought it showed a hunting scene. On the left hand side, a man on horseback and in armour seems to be returning to a lady, with a group of musicians between them. Now, however, we know more. And we know that we were wrong.
Tapestries such as this one rarely existed singularly on their own. Instead, they were part of a set, showing a story. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, biblical and mythological stories were common. They were often a little like comic strips, with characters wearing the same set of clothes in each panel to make them easily identifiable. Sometimes multiple parts of a story might be shown in one tapestry, with aspects of it taking place in the background as well as the foreground.
Frequently, only one tapestry in a set survives. In some cases, the set survives, but is incomplete, meaning historians have to guess at how many tapestries were originally created. The War of Troy series of tapestries don't all survive, but thanks to the original drawings for them surviving, we know that the series originally consisted of 11 tapestries, each 4.75 metres high and 9.5 metres long, resulting in nearly 500 square metres of tapestry.
In the case of our (far smaller) tapestry in the Tudor bedroom at Athelhampton, the major clue is wrapped around the man on the horse. More specifically, the faded yellow shape that wraps around his shoulders and over his leg.
Combined with his classical style armour, we can identify him as Hercules, wrapped in the skin of the Nemean Lion. It seems likely, therefore, that this tapestry was originally a part of a set showing his twelve labours.
Which then begs the question: which of the twelve labours does this panel show? The fact that the tapestry is populated entirely with women, besides Hercules, reduces us to two options: the belt of Hippolyta, or the golden apples of the Hesperides.
The Hesperides were nymphs who cared for the golden apples, and while their numbers in the myth vary, there are generally shown to be three of them, rather than the five women shown in this tapestry. In addition, no apple trees are shown, even in the background. And finally – Hercules either stole the apples, or got Atlas to steal the apples for him.
In neither of the version of the myth were the nymphs likely to be welcoming him in the way that’s being shown in this tapestry. In fact, in the majority of surviving tapestries, he's shown at the most exciting part of the story: killing the dragon that in some versions of the myth guarded the golden apples, though depictions of the dragon vary.
When it comes to the myth of Hercules obtaining the belt of Hippolyta, however, this scene fits.
Hercules being welcomed by the Amazons seems to be an unusual topic in Renaissance artwork. Few works of art from the time show such a thing: the majority of those featuring Hercules and the Amazons seem to focus on the violence of Hercules obtaining the belt, rather than anything that came before. Nevertheless, there are no other stories about Hercules that fit this very woman-centric tapestry, when you take into account the number of women, and the circumstances shown.
Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, had heard of Hercules and all of his achievements, and welcomed his visit with open arms, agreeing to give him her belt that he had been tasked with acquiring. (This later all goes horribly wrong when Juno, as part of her ongoing hatred of Hercules, spreads a rumour amongst the Amazons that he was there to abduct Hippolyta, causing them to attack him and him to retaliate).
It seems likely that the tallest lady on the right hand side, with the green overdress and the dark blue cloak, is Hippolyta. She’s markedly different to the other women, in particular when it comes to her stripy blue and yellow headpiece, which makes her easy to identify compared to the others, who are all wearing very similar clothing and headpieces. She is also being attended on by another woman.
The stories of Hercules were one of the most popular themes of Renaissance art. From the moralising of Hercules choosing between Virtue and Vice, to the adventuring of his 12 Labours, he was a character who was heavily admired, and held up as a role model to boys growing up in the 15th and 16th centuries.
To see this tapestry in person, or to learn more about Renaissance art and furniture, why not visit Athelhampton House & Gardens? We're open every day of the week, all year round, save a few days over Christmas.
