The mythological story of Jason is synonymous with adventure and great feats of heroism. This tapestry belongs to a cycle of seven works relating the story of Jason's voyage with the Argonauts; their quest to capture the golden fleece, and their subsequent return to Greece. Particular emphasis is placed on one aspect of the story that is seldom explored: Jason and Medea.
Until very recently, it was thought that the stage of the story depicted here, was that of the marriage ceremony of Jason and Creusa, daughter of the King of Corinth. However, recent scholarship by Christophe Leribault has identified that an error was made with the title of the cartoon, when it was first exhibited in the salon of 1748; as a result the corresponding tapestry must now be seen to depict Jason and Medea in the temple of Jupiter, paying homage to the ruler of the Gods.
Jason did later marry Creusa, and in so doing, forsook his wife Medea. Medea had used her powers of sorcery to oppose her father Aeëtes, King of Colchis and help her lover win the fleece. Jason's infidelity would incite her jealous rage, leading her to murder her rival Creusa; the King of Corinth; her own sons, and finally to set fire to Corinth. Jason's betrayal and its tragic repercussions are foreshadowed here in the tapestry by the group of restless Argonauts in the background, their backs turned, even as the ceremony takes place.