THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
A SUITE OF BRUGES TAPESTRY FROM THE EXPLOITS AND TRIUMPHS OF ROMAN GENERALS SERIES, MID-16TH CENTURY
(Lots 352-55)
Provenance: The succession of Dr. R.H. Sayre, sold in New York, 1932
Literature: Guy Delmoncel and Erik Duverger, Bruges et la Tapisserie, Bruges, 1987, p. 228-233
Following the success of the Triumph of Scipio Series, first woven in Brussels between 1532 and 1535, after cartoons by Giulio Romano, and commissioned by Francois I of France, the Bruges Tapestry works produced this series of the Exploits and the Triumphs of Roman Generals in the mid-16th Century. Concentrating on the lives of Caesar and Scipio, the series was woven in six editions and comprised five principal subjects:- A Triumphal procession, probably depicting the return of Julius Caesar (lots 352, 354 and 355): The Offering to Jupiter (lot 355); The Speech of the Victorious General; The Forgiveness of the General and A Battle Scene.
In the Inventory of Louis XIV's tapestries, taken in 1673 records Une tenture de tapisserie de laine et soye, fabrique de Bruges, représentant l'Histoire de Jules César, dans une bordure fond jaune remplie de trophée d'armes, deux Anges dans les coins du hault, et une arme particulière dans le milieu; contenant 44 aunes de cours, sur 3 ounes 1/4 de hault, en quinze pièces doublées par bandes
A BRUSSELS TAPESTRY, woven in wools and silks, the central panel woven with a triumphal procession with laurel-bound prancing horses, their plumed helmetted riders in battle armour holding aloft banners, the foreground woven with foliage, the background with a neo-classical town beyond with onlookers, within a foliate-trailed slip, the outer border woven with martial trophies, lions and figures of Victory, centred to the top by a grisaille silhouette portrait of a general, inscribed G MA RIO and with garlanded angels and further grotesques to the sides, in a blue slip outer border, restorations and areas of re-weaving, reduced in width, mid-16th Century, with label to the reverse sent by Mrs A de Wichfeld
Details
A BRUSSELS TAPESTRY, woven in wools and silks, the central panel woven with a triumphal procession with laurel-bound prancing horses, their plumed helmetted riders in battle armour holding aloft banners, the foreground woven with foliage, the background with a neo-classical town beyond with onlookers, within a foliate-trailed slip, the outer border woven with martial trophies, lions and figures of Victory, centred to the top by a grisaille silhouette portrait of a general, inscribed G MA RIO and with garlanded angels and further grotesques to the sides, in a blue slip outer border, restorations and areas of re-weaving, reduced in width, mid-16th Century, with label to the reverse sent by Mrs A de Wichfeld
137 x 110in. (345 x 280cm.)
137 x 110in. (345 x 280cm.)