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Lot Essay
The subtle colour scheme of this striking tapestry of a market scene, together with its painterly qualities, such as the depth of perspective and the grandiloquent poses of the figures, points to a probable attribution to the Medici tapestry workshop of Florence.
The Medici workshop, founded in 1545 by the Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, experienced a revitalisation at the beginning of the 18th Century after a production in the 17th century that was predominantly manneristic. In the latter part of that century the workshop had also separated into four individual weaving ateliers and it was only with the re-appearance of Giovan Battista Termini as head of the workshops that they were again unified. He contracted Giovan Camillo Sagrestani as the new painter to supply cartoons to the Medici workshops. This tapestry was probably woven under Antonio Bronconi who succeeded Termini and led the atelier until 1732.
The Medici workshop, founded in 1545 by the Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, experienced a revitalisation at the beginning of the 18th Century after a production in the 17th century that was predominantly manneristic. In the latter part of that century the workshop had also separated into four individual weaving ateliers and it was only with the re-appearance of Giovan Battista Termini as head of the workshops that they were again unified. He contracted Giovan Camillo Sagrestani as the new painter to supply cartoons to the Medici workshops. This tapestry was probably woven under Antonio Bronconi who succeeded Termini and led the atelier until 1732.