Artwork story
About Seasons and Elements (Spring) (set of four)
The artist and artwork
Seasons and Elements (Spring) was made in Paris around 1683 as a monumental embroidered wall hanging. The Met cautiously describes its central design as possibly after Charles Le Brun, Louis XIV's First Painter, and the border as probably by Jean Lemoyne le Lorrain. The needlework may have been done at the convent of the Filles de Saint-Joseph by orphan girls trained there and professional embroiderers. Silk, wool, and metal thread were worked in tent stitch across canvas at 316 stitches per square inch, turning a courtly design into a textile nearly fourteen feet tall.
The world around it
The hanging belongs to the moment when Versailles became the permanent royal residence and center of French government in 1682. Le Brun was directing the Hall of Mirrors decoration of 1681–84, using art and precious materials to make Louis XIV's rule appear magnificent. This commission came from the king's longtime mistress, Madame de Montespan, just as his affection shifted toward Françoise d'Aubigny, the future marquise de Maintenon. Art, family position, and power were inseparable at court: the larger series recast Louis XIV, Montespan, and six of their children as classical gods and personifications.
A detail to notice
Spring is not an anonymous goddess. The figure is thought to be Louise-Françoise, Mademoiselle de Nantes, a daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, appearing as Flora amid flowers and zodiac signs. The work is therefore both seasonal allegory and family portrait. The set apparently included eight hangings for four seasons and four elements, but only Spring, Summer, Fire, and Air survive together at The Met. Its most dramatic lost effect is physical: the background's metal thread has tarnished. Under candlelight it once shimmered, so the enormous textile changed with every flame and movement, something a modern photograph can show only imperfectly.
Look closer: materials, scale, and subjects
The recorded object is hanging made in Canvas; silk, wool, and metal-thread embroidery in tent stitch (316 stitches per sq. inch, 49 per sq. cm.) and held in the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts department.
Recorded dimensions include L. 164 x W. 108 inches (416.6 x 274.3 cm).
Subject terms include Birds, Fruit, Women, Insects, Sheep, and Flowers. Treat them as guideposts, not a complete interpretation.
Collection history and public-domain source
The collection credit line is Rogers Fund, 1946.
The individual artwork page and official image were verified as Public Domain on 2026-08-23.
No Context Gallery independently uses the public-domain image. The source museum has not endorsed, sponsored, or affiliated itself with these products.
Research sources
See the products currently available with this artwork. Product choices appear only when the exact item is published, in stock, and available to purchase.
