View full screen - View 1 of Lot 32. A Renaissance classical allegorical tapestry, Southern Netherlands, probably Brussels, early 16th century  .

A Renaissance classical allegorical tapestry, Southern Netherlands, probably Brussels, early 16th century

Estimate

50,000 - 80,000 EUR

Lot Details

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Description

finely woven with various groups of courtly figures in elaborate clothing, the groups extending across and up the height of the tapestry, with figures looking down from a balcony with a luxurious velvet hanging, incorporating a courtship or marriage in the foreground, and further figures across the background; (reduced in size, lacking borders


Haut. 226 cm, Larg. 345 cm; Height 89 in, Length 135 ¾ in 

Sotheby's, London, Property of Lt. Col. N.R. Colville, 24th November 1972, lot 42.

The present tapestry has a design composition found in tapestries of the early 16th century, with various figures facing each other, in horizontal lines up the height of the tapestry, with some figures appearing from balconies and from behind pillars, all woven against each other with little space between them. It was not unusual for figural groups to be reused in different tapestries, and, as the personages wore contemporary clothing of the time, the subject matter is not easily identifiable, and could be historical, biblical or classical. For example, the subject of the Biblical ‘Parable of the Prodigal Son’, was a pretext for representing courtly scenes.  

  

See a complete weaving from the subject, woven in Brussels, circa 1515-1524, within a narrow floral border, in the Royal Museum of Art and History, Brussels. A weaving of ‘The prodigal son revels’, (Inv.9920), incorporates various couples across the tapestry and a beautiful luxurious textile hanging in the centre. A virtually identical tapestry, woven circa 1517-1530, is in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis (Inv. John Van Derlip Fund, 37-17). From the same Brussels museum series, there is a weaving of ‘The peace or second paradise process’, within a narrow border (Inv.9922), and there is also a comparable weaving of this subject, without a border, in the Museo de Lleida, Lerida (Inv.2037). 

  

See two further tapestries, woven in the Southern Netherlands, circa 1510-1525, of different episodes from the Parable of the Prodigal Son, both with pairings of figures, and within narrow floral borders, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Inv.1915-15.121.2,3). 

  

For comparison see a very finely woven and beautifully detailed tapestry, probably from Brussels, circa 1515-1520, depicting ‘The Marriage of Mostre and Aotulycus’, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, with text inscriptions, and incorporating Diana and two seated women in the corner that appear pregnant (343cm by 546cm). There are two others from the set in the Cathedral of Lerida, Spain (GCPA 0236998 & 0236999), and a compositionally similar tapestry in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (Inv.T-15620). 

  

Auction Comparables 

An allegorical tapestry, Southern Netherlands, circa 1510-1520, depicting scenes from the Story of Aeneas, of reduced size, within a narrow compartmentalised floral border (340cm by 490cm), Bonham’s, London, 21 September 2021, lot 25, from the Collection of Lady Hamlyn.  

A complete tapestry, from the Story of David, within a narrow floral border (408cm by 406cm), Sotheby’s, London, 4 July 2012, lot 13.  

A fragment from a tapestry, probably Tournai, early 16th century, from the Story of Judith and Holofernes, incorporating text, balconies and columns. 

An allegorical tapestry, from Virtus, Southern Netherlands, Brussels, early 16th century, lacking border, woven incorporating text (172cm by 263cm), Sotheby’s, London, 13 November 2020, lot 3, and another fragment, with crowds of courtiers and further onlookers on columned balconies, Sotheby’s, New York, 3 October 2006, lot 6.