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Lot Essay
Although this scene does not appear among the original designs for the famous series consisting of thirteen panels of The Acts of Scipio and nine panels of The Triumphs of Scipio, the drawing is very closely related. The series had first been woven for Franois I of France who commissioned it from one of the most influential marchands in Brussels, Marc Crétif in 1532. Unfortunately this first set was burnt in 1797 to extract the gold and silver to pay the staff of the Gardes-Meubles. The Triumphs were entirely designed by Giulio Romano (1492 - 1546), while the Acts appear to have been a cooperation that included Romano, Giovanni Francesco Penni (1488 - 1528) and Francesco Primaticcio (1504 - 1570). Several weavings of this set are known from both the 16th and 17th Centuries, including those for Mary of Hungary, completed in 1544 (P. Junquera de Vega and C. Herrero Carretero, Catalogo de Tapices del Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 1986, vol. I, cats. 26-28, pp. 176 - 205), the Marèchal Saint-André (now in the Mobilier National of the Musée du Louvre), Gustaf Adolph of Sweden, Albert and Isabelle of Austria (also in the Spanish Royal Collection) and Maria de Medici. The Acts of Scipio were further copied by the Royal Gobelins Tapestry Manufacture from the set of tapestries woven in the 1550s for Saint-André.
A tapestry from Sutton Place of identical design but with variations to the borders and with monogram of Joos van Herzeele was sold anonymously at Sotheby's London, 9 December 1988, lot 17. A tapestry from The Triumphs of Scipio series depicting The Crowned Soldiers Passing Monte Cavallo by Martin Reymbouts was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 30 October 1997, lot 240, while an entre-fenêtre panel depicting a segment from Le Protique by Urban Leyniers was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 30 September 1999, lot 156.
A tapestry from Sutton Place of identical design but with variations to the borders and with monogram of Joos van Herzeele was sold anonymously at Sotheby's London, 9 December 1988, lot 17. A tapestry from The Triumphs of Scipio series depicting The Crowned Soldiers Passing Monte Cavallo by Martin Reymbouts was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 30 October 1997, lot 240, while an entre-fenêtre panel depicting a segment from Le Protique by Urban Leyniers was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 30 September 1999, lot 156.