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Tapestry: Don Quichotte guéri de sa folie par la sagesse, from L'Histoire de don Quichotte Series (Full, in gallery)

Royal Factory of Furniture to the Crown at the Gobelins Manufactory, Michel Audran, Jean Audran fils, Charles-Antoine Coypel, Claude Audran III, Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay fils, Alexandre-François Desportes, and Valande

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

In a scene from the Gobelins tapestry series L’Histoire de Don Quichotte (The Story of Don Quixote), based on the enormously popular romance novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote sleeps in one of the chairs, dreaming of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, who approaches in a cloud with her left arm extended to dispel his madness. His companion Sancho, who stands next to him, gazes in a trance at the figure of Folly, who carries in her right hand a model of a castle and in her left a pole with a fool’s cap.

Tapestry weavers rendered the scene as if it were a painting in a gilt-wood frame, hung against a damask-covered wall, which is festooned with thick garlands of fruit and flowers. The picture frame rests on a base piled with armor, an axe, flags, and two cornucopias overflowing with fruit. The tapestry’s title is woven below in yellow thread. The same decorative field, known as the alentours, encloses each of the narrative scenes in the Getty Museum’s set of four Don Quixote tapestries.

The Getty has three more tapestries from the series: Le Repas de Sancho dans I'lle de Barataria, L'Entrée de Sancho dans I'lle de Barataria, and La Poltronnerie de Sancho à la chasse.

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  • Title: Tapestry: Don Quichotte guéri de sa folie par la sagesse, from L'Histoire de don Quichotte Series (Full, in gallery)
  • Creator: Royal Factory of Furniture to the Crown at the Gobelins Manufactory, Michel Audran, Jean Audran fils, Charles-Antoine Coypel, Claude Audran III, Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay fils, Alexandre-François Desportes, Valande
  • Date Created: 1773
  • Location Created: Gobelins, France
  • Physical Dimensions: 370.8 × 386.1 cm (146 × 152 in.)
  • Type: Textile
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Silk and wool
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 82.DD.66
  • Culture: French
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
  • Creator Display Name: Woven at the Royal Factory of Furniture to the Crown at the Gobelins Manufactory (French, founded 1662) Under the direction of Michel Audran (French, 1701 - 1771) and his son Jean Audran fils (French, died 1794, active Gobelin Manufactory 1771 - 1794) After the painting by Charles-Antoine Coypel (French, 1694 - 1752) the alentours were designed in collaboration by Claude Audran III (French, before 1658 - 1734) Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay fils (French, 1668 - 1730) Alexandre-François Desportes (French, 1661 - 1743) and Valande
  • Classification: Decorative Art (Art Genre)
The J. Paul Getty Museum

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