A FLEMISH BIBLICAL TAPESTRY

LATE 16TH EARLY 17TH CENTURY, BRUSSELS OR AUDENARDE

细节

A FLEMISH BIBLICAL TAPESTRY
Late 16th early 17th century, Brussels or Audenarde
Almost certainly depicting David and Abigail, with Abigail kneeling before David and his soldiers, behind Abigail her maidens and numerous figures carrying gifts, the background with Abigail approaching with a caravan, to the center with the marriage feast of David and Abigail, flanked by a scene of Abigail's husband having a stroke, to the right the encampment of David and his outlaws, all within a border of flowering urns, putti, classical figures, with house and park views within circular tablets, with hanging rings on the back, reduced in width and in height to the bottom of main field, lacking guard border to top and bottom and folded over to each side, minor areas of re-weaving
8ft. 9¾in. (268.5cm.) x 10ft. 3in. (312cm.)

来源

St. Ignacious Retreat House, sold in these Rooms, 25 September 2001, lot 369 ($23,500).

拍场告示

Please note that the illustration for this lot is incorrect. For the correct illustration please see the illustration for lot 772.

拍品专文

David, the shepherd boy who became King of Israel, was in exile in the Judean desert and kept himself and his band of outlaws alive with 'strong-arm' methods. One rich farmer refused to supply them and they threatened to punish him. The farmer's wife, Abigail, went out to meet David with a peace-offering of food and drink, which was graciously received. Abigail's husband, hearing of the incident the next day, died of a severe stroke, upon which Abigail married David.

Two suites of tapestries, one depicting The Story of Scipio and Hannibal and the other of an unidentified scene with a man and a woman before each other, employ very similar borders, incorporating to the lower corners the story of Susannah and the Elders (I. De Meüter, M. Vanwelden, Tapisseries d'Audenarde du XVIe au XVIIIe Siècle , Tielt, 1999, pp. 183 and 187). The first bears the town-mark believed to be that of Audenarde and an unidentified weaver's mark. Interestingly another tapestry, depicting The Story of Julius Caesar in the collection of Dalle Rose, Venice, bears a weaver's mark of the Brussels weaver Cornelis Mattens. ( Op. cit., pp. 183 - 184) It is thus almost certain that this tapestry was also woven in Brussels or Audenarde between 1590 and 1620.