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Lot Essay
This tapestry is closely related to a set of six panels depicting The Virtues that are in the Quirinale Palace, Rome (N. Forti Grazzini, Il Patrimonio Artistico del Quirinale, Gli Arazzi, Rome, 1994, vol. I, figs. 23-28, pp. 71-77). Their designs are attributed to Francesco Nani (d. 1735) and Jacopo Bonelli while the figures are copied from works by Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530). The figure of Faith is taken from a fresco in the cloister of the Scalzi, Florence, which was painted by del Sarto in 1523.
The opus princeps of this series was made by unidentified weavers in the Medici workshop for Cosimo III de' Medici at the very end of the 17th Century and the beginning of the 18th Century. There are further weavings recorded in the early 18th Century. The set that remains in the Quirinale is lacking this specific subject but includes Hope, Strength, two versions of Charity and two versions of Justice. The only other recorded weaving of Faith is in the Museo di San Matteo in Pisa. That panel has been identified as being from the Medici collection, but it is not impossible that the offered lot has the same provenance.
These allegorical tapestries were the last to be supplied with such strict 17th Century baroque ideas. With the beginning of the new Century and the appointment of Giovanni Battista Termini (d. 1717) as head of the workshop in 1703, the character markedly shifted towards the French tapestry design ideas.
A very similar tapestry depicting Diana and from a series just preceding this group, was sold anonymously at Christie's, London, 11 May 2000, lot 154.
The opus princeps of this series was made by unidentified weavers in the Medici workshop for Cosimo III de' Medici at the very end of the 17th Century and the beginning of the 18th Century. There are further weavings recorded in the early 18th Century. The set that remains in the Quirinale is lacking this specific subject but includes Hope, Strength, two versions of Charity and two versions of Justice. The only other recorded weaving of Faith is in the Museo di San Matteo in Pisa. That panel has been identified as being from the Medici collection, but it is not impossible that the offered lot has the same provenance.
These allegorical tapestries were the last to be supplied with such strict 17th Century baroque ideas. With the beginning of the new Century and the appointment of Giovanni Battista Termini (d. 1717) as head of the workshop in 1703, the character markedly shifted towards the French tapestry design ideas.
A very similar tapestry depicting Diana and from a series just preceding this group, was sold anonymously at Christie's, London, 11 May 2000, lot 154.