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Lot Essay
SUBJECT
This tapestry depicts a scene from the Old Testament (I Sam. 16:1-13). Samuel, prophet and spiritual leader of the Israelites, in his search for a successor to King Saul went to the family of Jesse in Bethlehem. Jesse presented seven of his sons, but Samuel rejected all of them. David, who was the youngest and who was in the fields watching the flocks, was finally introduced to Samuel and then chosen. He anointed him with oil from a horn.
RELATED TAPESTRIES
There are numerous mentions of tapestry series depicting The Story of David in inventories of the early 16th Century. The inventories of François I of France (d. 1547) mention them, as do those of the Spanish Royal family, and Henry VIII of England (d. 1547) even had seven series of this subject. A complete set of ten panels depicting David and Bathsheba still exists in the Musée de la Renaissance in Ecouen, while further examples are in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, the National Museum of Warszawa, the Hôtel de Ville in Brussels and at Schloss Sigmaringen belonging to the Princes of Hohenzollern. The design of the set in Ecouen, which was woven between 1515 and 1525, has been attributed to Jan van Roome and his collaborators while the weaving, which includes gold and silver-thread, has been ascribed to Pieter van Aelst (Tapisseries Bruxelloises de la pré-Renaissance, exhibition catalogue, Brussels, 1976, cats. 1-10, pp. 25 - 51).
WEAVER
It is interesting to note the initials embroidered on the back of the coat of the page to the far right of the tapestry. They may be interpreted as representing 'JS', which possibly stands for the weaver's initials of Jean le Sauvage, who is recorded in Bruges in 1508, or Jean de Smit, recorded in Bruges in 1527 - 36. The very apparent placing of the signature would further suggest that he may have been the patron for the designs.
This tapestry depicts a scene from the Old Testament (I Sam. 16:1-13). Samuel, prophet and spiritual leader of the Israelites, in his search for a successor to King Saul went to the family of Jesse in Bethlehem. Jesse presented seven of his sons, but Samuel rejected all of them. David, who was the youngest and who was in the fields watching the flocks, was finally introduced to Samuel and then chosen. He anointed him with oil from a horn.
RELATED TAPESTRIES
There are numerous mentions of tapestry series depicting The Story of David in inventories of the early 16th Century. The inventories of François I of France (d. 1547) mention them, as do those of the Spanish Royal family, and Henry VIII of England (d. 1547) even had seven series of this subject. A complete set of ten panels depicting David and Bathsheba still exists in the Musée de la Renaissance in Ecouen, while further examples are in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, the National Museum of Warszawa, the Hôtel de Ville in Brussels and at Schloss Sigmaringen belonging to the Princes of Hohenzollern. The design of the set in Ecouen, which was woven between 1515 and 1525, has been attributed to Jan van Roome and his collaborators while the weaving, which includes gold and silver-thread, has been ascribed to Pieter van Aelst (Tapisseries Bruxelloises de la pré-Renaissance, exhibition catalogue, Brussels, 1976, cats. 1-10, pp. 25 - 51).
WEAVER
It is interesting to note the initials embroidered on the back of the coat of the page to the far right of the tapestry. They may be interpreted as representing 'JS', which possibly stands for the weaver's initials of Jean le Sauvage, who is recorded in Bruges in 1508, or Jean de Smit, recorded in Bruges in 1527 - 36. The very apparent placing of the signature would further suggest that he may have been the patron for the designs.