The Abduction of Helen from a set of The Story of Troy. Culture: Chinese, Macao, for export market. Dimensions: Overall: 142 3/4 x 189 in. (362.6 x 480.1 cm). Date: probably first half 17th century.This monumental hanging depicts Helen's abduction--the legendary event that sparked the Trojan War. Chinese embroiderers relied on European printed sources for the subject and the composition but incorporated design motifs from their own decorative vocabulary, including phoenixes in the border and stylized waves in the background. The figures' faces and limbs were painted directly on the cotton foundation in a European style, likely by Chinese artists who were taught in Japan by Jesuit missionaries. Scientific analysis of the pigments supports this intercultural exchange, since testing found a blue-green pigment not used in Asia and a white common in Japan but not used in Europe. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.