This tapestry comes from the celebrated <i>Portières des Dieux</i> series, designed by Claude Audran III (1658-1734) for the French royal tapestry manufactory, the Gobelins. The series depicts the four seasons and four elements and enjoyed such widespread popularity that it was re-woven continuously between 1700 and 1789.
Here the figure of Juno, the Goddess of Olympus and Jupiter's consort, personifies the element air; as punishment for disobeying Jupiter, she had once been suspended in the sky by a golden rope.
Seated in regal splendour, Juno holds her sceptre in her right hand, flanked on either side by two peacocks, her attribute. The delicate arabesques framing the goddess include a variety of wind instruments, such as pipes, hurdy gurdys and flutes, all references to the element she embodies.