The Judgement of Midas
Sébastien Bourdon (Montpellier 1616 – Paris 1671)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1634 - 1637
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1524 x 1905 mm (60 x 75 in)
Place of origin
France
Order this imageCollection
Kingston Lacy Estate, Dorset
NT 1257127
Caption
Tmolus, a mountain-god was asked to judge a music contest between Apollo and Pan, the half-goat-half-man, sitting on the rock with his pipes to the left and decides in favour of Apollo. Midas, King of Phrygia (also known for rashly wishing that everything that he touched should turn to gold) objects to the decision and steps in declaring it to be unjust. Apollo, feeling that he could not allow ears so foolish to retain their human shape, changed the ears of Midas into those of an ass. The story derives from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the painting is pair with The Rape of Europa in collection of Sir Ralph Bankes since 1658/9. It is an early work by the artist and was probably painted while he was still staying in Rome between 1634-37.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Judgement of Midas, by Sébastien Bourdon (Montpellier 1616 – Paris 1671), 1634-37. The mountain-god Tmolus was asked to judge a music contest between Apollo and Pan, he decided in favour of Apollo. Midas, King of Phrygia, objected to the decision and declared it to be unjust. Apollo, feeling that he could not allow ears so foolish to retain their human shape, changed the ears of Midas into those of an ass. A pendant to the Rape of Europa by Sebastien Bourdon (KLA.P.84).
Provenance
Acquired by (Sir) Ralph Bankes between 1658 and 1659 (with its pendant, The Rape of Europa); bequeathed by (Henry John) Ralph Bankes (1902 – 1981) to the National Trust, together with the estates of Corfe Castle and Kingston Lacy and its entire contents, 1981
Credit line
Kingston Lacy, The Bankes Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Sébastien Bourdon (Montpellier 1616 – Paris 1671), artist
References
Gore 1986 F. St John Gore, 'The Bankes Collection at Kingston Lacy', Apollo, May 1986, pp. 302-7, p.305, illus fig. 18 on p.309