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Lot Essay
SERIES AND SUBJECT
This tapestry belongs to a series of ten panels depicting the Judaic wars (66 - 70 AD) during the reigns of Vespasian (69 - 70 AD) and his son Titus (79 - 81 AD). The series appears to be based on the accounts of Flavius Joseph (37 - 100 AD), a Jewish historian who fought in the wars against Rome and became a prisoner.
Although no drawings or engravings for the two series survive, it is believed that Charles Peorson (d. 1667) was their author on the basis of comparisons to other tapestry designs by him (The Story of Moses). It is believed that he painted the modelli for the tapestries in the early 1660s as there is mention of a Titus and Vespasian series in Brussels in 1663. It appears to have been commissioned by a group of weavers through Jean Valdor, an engraver and art dealer.
Interestingly an identical panel is also featured in a series depicting The Story of Cleopatra which is believed to have been designed between 1650 and 1660. Indeed each series shares two panels. It is believed that The Battle scene was originally designed for the Cleopatra series as the Titus series already had another battle scene and because the red coat on the female protagonist in the second panel is a recurring theme in the Cleopatra series (N. de Reniès, et al., Lyon, museée des Tissus, musée des Arts décoratifs, Lyon, 1996, p. 45).
WEAVERS AND COMPARABLE EXAMPLES
Four tapestry workshops are recorded having woven the series: that of William Leefdael (active until 1685), Gerard Peemans (active until 1707), Geraert van der Streken (d. 1677) and lastly either Jean (d. 1676) or Jerome (d. 1719) Le Clerc. It is interesting to note that there are also four differing borders for the series, although it does not appear to be possible to assign specific borders singularly to one weaver. For instance, four tapestries with identical border as the present lot in the Toms Collection, Lausanne, are singed by Peemans, while another in a private collection and depicting The Triumphal Procession is signed by Leefdael (G. Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt, 1999, pp. 247 and 249). A further tapestry from this series with identical borders, signed by Peemans, and depicting The Siege of Jerusalem was sold from the collection of Isabel van Wie Willys, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 26 27 October 1945, lot 335, while another with identical borders but not signed and depicting The Triumph of Titus and Vespasian was offered anonymously, Sotheby's, New York, 5 December 1980, lot 4.
This tapestry belongs to a series of ten panels depicting the Judaic wars (66 - 70 AD) during the reigns of Vespasian (69 - 70 AD) and his son Titus (79 - 81 AD). The series appears to be based on the accounts of Flavius Joseph (37 - 100 AD), a Jewish historian who fought in the wars against Rome and became a prisoner.
Although no drawings or engravings for the two series survive, it is believed that Charles Peorson (d. 1667) was their author on the basis of comparisons to other tapestry designs by him (The Story of Moses). It is believed that he painted the modelli for the tapestries in the early 1660s as there is mention of a Titus and Vespasian series in Brussels in 1663. It appears to have been commissioned by a group of weavers through Jean Valdor, an engraver and art dealer.
Interestingly an identical panel is also featured in a series depicting The Story of Cleopatra which is believed to have been designed between 1650 and 1660. Indeed each series shares two panels. It is believed that The Battle scene was originally designed for the Cleopatra series as the Titus series already had another battle scene and because the red coat on the female protagonist in the second panel is a recurring theme in the Cleopatra series (N. de Reniès, et al., Lyon, museée des Tissus, musée des Arts décoratifs, Lyon, 1996, p. 45).
WEAVERS AND COMPARABLE EXAMPLES
Four tapestry workshops are recorded having woven the series: that of William Leefdael (active until 1685), Gerard Peemans (active until 1707), Geraert van der Streken (d. 1677) and lastly either Jean (d. 1676) or Jerome (d. 1719) Le Clerc. It is interesting to note that there are also four differing borders for the series, although it does not appear to be possible to assign specific borders singularly to one weaver. For instance, four tapestries with identical border as the present lot in the Toms Collection, Lausanne, are singed by Peemans, while another in a private collection and depicting The Triumphal Procession is signed by Leefdael (G. Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt, 1999, pp. 247 and 249). A further tapestry from this series with identical borders, signed by Peemans, and depicting The Siege of Jerusalem was sold from the collection of Isabel van Wie Willys, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 26 27 October 1945, lot 335, while another with identical borders but not signed and depicting The Triumph of Titus and Vespasian was offered anonymously, Sotheby's, New York, 5 December 1980, lot 4.