A BRUSSELS TAPESTRY by Franz van den Hecke, woven in wools and silks, from The History of Troy, en suite with the preceding lot, depicting Agammemnon and his queen, standing before an altar to Apollo, with a pair of sacrificial lambs placed upon the plinth, the high priest gesturing towards a flaming altar in the distance, while an eagle clasping a laurel-wreath descends, in an extensive river landscape with towns beyond, the border with Latin inscription and figures emblematic of RAPVS, CARESTIA, FLVX, RESVRETVS, SENTVS and TEMPVS, all on a yellow ground, the top border centred by the figure of PAX flanked by garlanded putti with strapwork cartouches and flowers, the lower border centred by MARS and flanked by foliate-arabesques and grotesques, together with dancing putti and satyrs, in a blue slip, the top blue slip replaced, with weaver's mark, mid-16th Century, restorations and some areas of re-weaving

Details

A BRUSSELS TAPESTRY by Franz van den Hecke, woven in wools and silks, from The History of Troy, en suite with the preceding lot, depicting Agammemnon and his queen, standing before an altar to Apollo, with a pair of sacrificial lambs placed upon the plinth, the high priest gesturing towards a flaming altar in the distance, while an eagle clasping a laurel-wreath descends, in an extensive river landscape with towns beyond, the border with Latin inscription and figures emblematic of RAPVS, CARESTIA, FLVX, RESVRETVS, SENTVS and TEMPVS, all on a yellow ground, the top border centred by the figure of PAX flanked by garlanded putti with strapwork cartouches and flowers, the lower border centred by MARS and flanked by foliate-arabesques and grotesques, together with dancing putti and satyrs, in a blue slip, the top blue slip replaced, with weaver's mark, mid-16th Century, restorations and some areas of re-weaving
125 x 138½in. (317 x 350cm.)

Lot Essay

A related tapestry from the History of Troy depicting Ullysses and Diomed presenting to King Priam Agamemnon's demand for the return of Helen, by Jan Aertz, was sold anonymously at Sotheby's, London, 25 July 1969, lot 25 and at Sotheby's, New York, 30 May 1987, lot 247

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