A Paris mythological tapestry depicting Diana bathing with her maidens, after designs by Laurent de La Hire, probably by the workshop of Hippolyte de Comans

mid-17th century the barely clad Goddess seated on a rock before a stream, Cupid behind a tree to the right, her hound seated on the opposite bank, Bacchus hiding behind a tree to the left, within broad and sumptuous border of flower-filled baskets supported by putti, interspersed by eagles and feathers, within bound reeds 11 ft. 1 in. by 10 ft. 2 in. (3.38 by 3.1m.) This pre-Gobelins series of mythological scenes, apparently six in total, includes the subject of Diana and Her Nymphs, the Metropolitan example having a different border than the present lot. Standen(op.cit.) notes three pieces, including a Diana weaving, that were sold at the Hotel Drouot, June 15, 1964(no.157, illus.) which were considerably altered ("especially the Diana which has been transformed into a narrow upright, with two nymphs only, both tending to Diana, a Cupid behind her, and a satyr and a seated dog on the far left.") The Drouot example appears, by description, to directly relate to the present lot in which elements have been rearranged and the figures are in slightly different positions than the Metropolitan example and its original design, see in the painting of the same subject in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.