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Lot Essay
This tapestry, in its loose composition and drawing of the figures as well as the use of a grotesque beast with further figure flying above the main protagonist, relates closely to a tapestry depicting The Ages of Man which is illustrated in H. Göbel, Tapestries of the Lowlands, Leipzig, 1924, fig. 246, and later sold anonymously, Christie's, New York, 29 January 1999, lot 129.
The stylistic placement of the figures, the archaic style of the drawing as well as the overall symbolism is comparable to a pair of tapestries that may originally have formed part of a set of six that depict The Twelve Months and that are in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon (J.P. Asselberghs, La tapisserie tournaisienne au XVIe siècle, Tournai, 1968, pp. 22 - 24). In both surviving tapestries a central enthroned figure is surrounded by allegorical personalities. However, those tapestries are further emblazoned with medallions representing the occupations of the months and a central allegorical figure in a mandorla. The similarities in the drawing and the overall composition suggest that these tapestries could originate from a very similar design source as the offered lot.
The stylistic placement of the figures, the archaic style of the drawing as well as the overall symbolism is comparable to a pair of tapestries that may originally have formed part of a set of six that depict The Twelve Months and that are in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon (J.P. Asselberghs, La tapisserie tournaisienne au XVIe siècle, Tournai, 1968, pp. 22 - 24). In both surviving tapestries a central enthroned figure is surrounded by allegorical personalities. However, those tapestries are further emblazoned with medallions representing the occupations of the months and a central allegorical figure in a mandorla. The similarities in the drawing and the overall composition suggest that these tapestries could originate from a very similar design source as the offered lot.