Month of September

In the Roman calendar, September 3 marked the feast of Bacchus, Roman god of wine, agriculture, and drunken revelry. Shown here, to the left of the grape stomp, is a red-nosed Bacchus, adding freshly harvested grapes. The upper corners of the tapestry acknowledge Bacchus’s parents: Jupiter, ruler of the Roman gods, and Semele (or Semela), a mortal woman. According to one version of the myth, Jupiter’s supernatural power consumed Semele in a moment of passion, and Jupiter brought the pregnancy to term. Bacchus was later known as having one father and two mothers, both male and female qualities, and often depicted as androgynous and beardless. This tapestry derives from a set dedicated to months of the year. Five others from the set survive in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Dumbarton Oaks (Washington DC).