拍品專文
This tapestry from the The Story of Scipion series is known as The Crowned Soldiers Passing Monte Cavallo. The set, which was considered one of the prestigious of the period, was first commissioned by François I on 11 July 1532 from one of the most important marchands of the time, Marc Crétif. It was to measure 566 square meters, to be woven in gold and silk, and to be finished within 18 months. The set, consisting of 22 subjects was finished in April 1535 and was 4.76 meters high and a total of 143 meters long. The speed at which it was finished demanded that several ateliers collaborated on the weaving although it has not yet been possible to identify any. It remained in the French Royal collection but was sadly burnt in 1797 to recover the precious metals needed to pay the staff at the Garde-Meuble. An inventory taken in the 17th Century lists the 22 subjects and it has been possible to identify 15 original cartoons for it. From the inventory it is discernable that the series consisted of two distinct sets, The Acts of Scipion and The Triumphs of Scipion, to which this subject belongs. The Acts were copied by The Royal Gobelins Tapestry Manufacture from a second set of tapestries woven in the 1550s for Jacques d'Albon, seigneur de Saint-André.
Giulio Romano, who considered undisputedly to be the designer of the Triumphs, is recorded by Vasari as having provided an immense and almost unimaginable amount of drawings and designs to foreign commissions. He was also long seen as the designer of such series as Les Mois Grotesques, Les Triomphes des Dieux, Les Jeux d'Enfants and others, although not all of these attributions are sustainable today.
There are six tapestries of this series, excluding this subject, signed by Martin Reymbouts, woven in metal-thread and with identical borders to this lot in the Spanish Royal Collection (P. Junquera de Vega and C. Herrero Carretero, Catalogo de Tapices del Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 1986, vol. I, pp. 185-192, cat. 27). It is assumed that this set was bought by the Archdukes Alberto and Isabel from the marchand Johan van der Goes in 1607 and consisted of a total of eight panels depicting the Triumphs. Six now remain in the collection. It is possible that the same marchand also handled the sale of this tapestry.
Martin Reymbouts (d. 1619), who came out of one of the main weaver's families of Brussels, can be traced back as having lost most of his possessions during the sacking of Antwerp in 1576. He ran one of the nine larger studios who were "privileged" by the council in 1613, being able to produce at least two large sets of tapestries per year. He had a preference for the tapestry designs of the principal period of Brussels' tapestry production in the mid-16th Century, and wove these subjects into the early 17th Century.
The only other recorded version of this subject, besides those from the François I series, was sold from the d'Este collection at Cattaneo, 7 May 1864, lot 4. It is possible that this tapestry is the tapestry sold in 1864. ('Jules Romain l'Histoire de Scipion', Exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1978, p. 130, cat. XX).
Giulio Romano, who considered undisputedly to be the designer of the Triumphs, is recorded by Vasari as having provided an immense and almost unimaginable amount of drawings and designs to foreign commissions. He was also long seen as the designer of such series as Les Mois Grotesques, Les Triomphes des Dieux, Les Jeux d'Enfants and others, although not all of these attributions are sustainable today.
There are six tapestries of this series, excluding this subject, signed by Martin Reymbouts, woven in metal-thread and with identical borders to this lot in the Spanish Royal Collection (P. Junquera de Vega and C. Herrero Carretero, Catalogo de Tapices del Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 1986, vol. I, pp. 185-192, cat. 27). It is assumed that this set was bought by the Archdukes Alberto and Isabel from the marchand Johan van der Goes in 1607 and consisted of a total of eight panels depicting the Triumphs. Six now remain in the collection. It is possible that the same marchand also handled the sale of this tapestry.
Martin Reymbouts (d. 1619), who came out of one of the main weaver's families of Brussels, can be traced back as having lost most of his possessions during the sacking of Antwerp in 1576. He ran one of the nine larger studios who were "privileged" by the council in 1613, being able to produce at least two large sets of tapestries per year. He had a preference for the tapestry designs of the principal period of Brussels' tapestry production in the mid-16th Century, and wove these subjects into the early 17th Century.
The only other recorded version of this subject, besides those from the François I series, was sold from the d'Este collection at Cattaneo, 7 May 1864, lot 4. It is possible that this tapestry is the tapestry sold in 1864. ('Jules Romain l'Histoire de Scipion', Exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1978, p. 130, cat. XX).