The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis Slider Image 1

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis Slider Image 2

Detail of figure in clouds upper center

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis Slider Image 3

Detail of Eris and flying putti

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis Slider Image 4

detail with Judgement of Paris and Vulcan

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis Slider Image 5

Detail with Bacchus

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis Slider Image 6

Detail of Venus, Cupid and Mars

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis Slider Image 7

Detail of Hercules, musicians and feast

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis Slider Image 8

Detail of inscription on back

Joachim Anthonisz Wtewael

Dutch, 1566–1635

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis

1612

The gods of ancient Greece celebrate the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the future parents of Achilles. Only Eris, goddess of discord, had not been invited, though she makes a dramatic appearance. Hovering over the festivities on bat-like wings, she holds a golden apple that will cause an argument among the assembled goddesses, eventually leading to the Trojan War. Paintings on copper, like this one, were highly prized by collectors. The metal’s smooth surface enabled Wtewael to include tiny details that draw the viewer into the story.

Medium	Oil on copper
Dimensions	14 3/8 x 16 9/16 in. (36.5 x 42 cm) Frame: 18 5/8 × 21 × 2 3/8 in. (47.3 × 53.3 × 6 cm)
Object Number	1991.9
Acquisition	Acquired by the Clark, 1991
Status	On View

Image Caption

Joachim Anthonisz Wtewael, The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis, 1612, Oil on copper. Clark Art Institute, Acquired by the Clark, 1991.9

Select Bibliography

New York: Newhouse Galleries, Inc.. Old Master Paintings: An Exhibition of European Paintings from the 16th Century to the 19th Century. April 4-May 3, 1991; Verner Amell Gallery, Ltd., London, June 5-July 19, 1991. Spicer, Joneath A., and Lynn Federle Orr. Masters of Light: Dutch Painters in Utrecht during the Golden Age. Baltimore, New Haven, and London: Yale University Press, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, and Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, 1997. Phoenix Art Museum.. Copper as Canvas: Two Centuries of Masterpiece Paintings on Copper, 1575-1775. Dec. 12, 1998-Feb. 28, 1999; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, March 28-June 6, 1999. (Not lent to Mauritshuis). Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Lowenthal, Anne W. Joachim Wtewael: Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan. Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum. 1995. Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996. Held, Julius S. "Old Masters in the Clark Collection, Part I: Paintings." The Magazine Antiques 62, no. 4 (October 1997): 504–9.

Gibson, Sara. "Bacchanalia/Orgy" in Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art, Volume I, edited by Helen E. Roberts, 95-101. Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998.

Sturgis, Alexander. Telling Time. London: National Gallery. 2000.

Bok, M.J., and P. Huys Janssen. “20: De beeldende kunsten.” In Geschiedenis van de Provincie Utrecht: Van 1528 tot 1780 (Stichtse historische reeks), edited by C. Dekker and J. Aalbers, 363-398. Utrecht: Het Spectrum, 1997.

Varriano, John. Wine: A Cultural History. London: Reaktion Books, 2010.

Froitzheim-Hegger, Eva-Marina. Sie lebten dahin sorglos in behaglicher Ruhe : Studien zum niederländischen und flämischen Gottermahl. New York: Georg Olms Verlag, 1993

Provenance

George Smith, London; (his sale, Christie’s, London, 10 April 1880, no. 63, as Brueghel and Van Balen, sold to Waters); private collection, Scandinavia, c. 1930; (sale, Sotheby’s, London, 11 April 1990, no. 19); (Swedish art market); [Newhouse Galleries, New York, 1991, sold to the Clark]; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1991.