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92-803: He was a pupil of Charles Le Brun , under whose direction he worked at the Manufacture des Gobelins , and with whom he worked on the decoration of the Château de Versailles . He was the director of the French Academy in Rome from 1699 to 1704. He painted an entire series of paintings depicting various myths involving the Graeco-Roman goddess Athena / Minerva . René-Antoine Houasse was married on 5 February 1673 to Marie Le Blé, cousin of Charles Le Brun, with whom he had three children: He died at

184-407: A baldachin , canopy of state or cloth of state was hung behind and over a throne as a symbol of authority. The seat under such a canopy of state would normally be raised on a dais . As paintings came to be regarded as more important works of art, typically by the 17th century, tapestries in palaces were moved less, and came to be regarded as more or less permanent fittings for a particular room. It

276-425: A Habsburg patron, show an advanced Renaissance compositional style adapted to tapestries. These have a hunting scene for each month in the year, and also show specific locations around the city. Goya was still designing hunting scenes in the 1770s. After a probable gap since the 11th century, in the late 14th century sets of tapestries returned as the grandest medium for "official military art ", usually celebrating

368-477: A century. Posthumously, Le Brun's reputation suffered in the years surrounding the French Revolution and its aftermath, due to his close connection with Louis XIV. By the end of the nineteenth century, the academic values he personified were out of fashion, and it was only in 1963, when a major Le Brun exhibition was organized at Versailles, that his work was reevaluated. He is now considered one of

460-454: A clearly Romanesque style that relates to Rhineland illuminated manuscripts of the same period was made for Halberstadt Cathedral in Germany around 1200, and shaped differently to fit specific spaces. These may well have been made by nuns, or the secular canonesses of nearby Quedlinburg Abbey . In this period repeated decorative motifs, increasingly often heraldic, and comparable to

552-634: A comparable enthroned Virgin Mary of similar date. Many of the small borders and patches with images with which the early Byzantine world liked to decorate their clothing were in tapestry. A number of survivals from around the year 1000 show the development of a frieze shape, of a large long tapestry that is relatively short in height. These were apparently designed to hang around a hall or church, probably rather high; surviving examples have nearly all been preserved in churches, but may originally have been secular. The Cloth of Saint Gereon, from around 1000, has

644-454: A director of several art schools of his time. He served as a court painter to Louis XIV , who declared him "the greatest French artist of all time". Le Brun was a dominant figure in 17th-century French art and was influenced by Nicolas Poussin . Born in Paris, Le Brun attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier , who placed him at the age of eleven in the studio of Simon Vouet . He was also

736-470: A feature of allegorical and courtly subjects. The Lady and the Unicorn set in Paris are famous examples, from around 1500. Millefleur backgrounds became very common for heraldic tapestries, which were one of the most popular relatively small types, usually more tall than wide. These usually featured the coat of arms of the patron in the centre, with a wide floral field. They would often be hung behind

828-618: A few large figures in the foreground. The French tapestries commissioned by Louis XIV of the victories early in his reign were of this type. Right at the end of the 16th century, a set (now in Madrid) was commissioned of the Triumphs and battles of Archduke Albert , who had just been made sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands (his military career had in fact been rather unsuccessful). The city council of Antwerp ordered it from

920-621: A grand set depicting the Acts of the Apostles . These were sent from Rome and used the latest monumental classicizing High Renaissance style, which was also reaching the north through prints. Hunting scenes were also very popular. These were usually given no specific setting, although sometimes the commissioner and other figures might be given portraits. The four Devonshire Hunting Tapestries (1430-1450, V&A), probably made in Arras, are perhaps

1012-472: A high quality of design for Brussels pieces. At the beginning of the century Late Gothic styles held sway, and both the most famous sets of millefleur " unicorn " tapestries were made around 1500, perhaps to designs from Paris: The Lady and the Unicorn (now Paris), and The Hunt of the Unicorn (now New York). Pope Leo's set for the Sistine Chapel , designed by Raphael in 1515–16, marked

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1104-923: A large set after his decisive victory at the Battle of Pavia in 1525; a set is now in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples. When he led an expedition to North Africa, culminating in the Conquest of Tunis in 1535 (no more lasting than that of Tangier depicted in the Pastrana tapestries), he took the Flemish artist Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen with him, mainly to produce drawings for the set of tapestries ordered on his return. Contemporary military subjects became rather less popular as many 16th-century wars became religious, sometimes allegorical subjects were chosen to cover these. But

1196-507: A large wall-hanging, but had been reused to make a pair of trousers. The Hestia Tapestry from Byzantine Egypt around 500–550, is a largely intact wool piece with many figures around the enthroned goddess Hestia , who is named in Greek letters. It is 114 x 136.5 cm (44.9 x 53.7 inches) with a rounded top, and was presumably hung in a home, showing the persistence of Greco-Roman paganism at this late date. The Cleveland Museum of Art has

1288-404: A pupil of François Perrier . At fifteen he received commissions from Cardinal Richelieu , in the execution of which he displayed an ability which obtained the generous commendations of Nicolas Poussin , in whose company Le Brun started for Rome in 1642. In Rome, he remained four years in the receipt of a pension due to the liberality of the chancellor. There he worked under Poussin, adapting

1380-555: A rather successful attempt to spread the taste for large Flemish tapestries to other courts, as well as being part of his attempt to promote the status of his duchy. Apart from Burgundy and France, tapestries were given to several of the English Plantagenets , and the rulers of Austria, Prussia, Aragon, Milan, and at his specific request, to the Ottoman Sultan Bazajet I (as part of a ransom deal for

1472-665: A repeat pattern centred on medallions with a motif of a bull being attacked by a griffin , taken from Byzantine silk (or its Persian equivalent) but probably woven locally in the Rhineland . It survived in a church in Cologne , Germany. The five strips of Överhogdal tapestries , from Sweden and dated to within 70 years of 1100, have designs in which animals greatly outnumber human figures, and have been given various interpretations. One strip has geometrical motifs. The Skog tapestry , also from Sweden but probably early 14th-century,

1564-407: A smaller scale in the 19th century. Technically, tapestry is weft -faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may be visible. In tapestry weaving, weft yarns are typically discontinuous (unlike brocade ); the artisan interlaces each coloured weft back and forth in its own small pattern area. It

1656-476: A specific order, and distribute them across Europe via a network of dealers. From about 1600 they followed the wider trends in European landscape painting and prints. Oudenarde specialized in these, but they were produced in many towns. As with paintings, the addition of a figure or two could elevate such pieces to a depiction of a story from classical mythology , or a hunting subject. Tapestry weavers in

1748-511: A tapestry weave. The word tapestry derives from Old French tapisserie , from tapisser , meaning "to cover with heavy fabric, to carpet", in turn from tapis , "heavy fabric", via Latin tapes ( gen : tapetis ), which is the Latinisation of the Greek τάπης ( tapēs ; gen: τάπητος , tapētos ), "carpet, rug". The earliest attested form of the word

1840-554: A three piece set ordered by Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy from Paris in 1399. A set made in the 1450s for Giovanni de' Medici , a leading patron of the latest Florentine style, used cartoons sent from Italy to the Netherlandish weavers. But the subjects suited the tapestry weavers style, as most designs included packed crowds of elaborately-dressed figures, and there were moral messages to be drawn. The 16th century continued

1932-425: A tiny palace, and transform it into an opulent dwelling where he would meet with his subjects and foreign diplomats. Le Brun was in charge of its decoration down to the most minute details of arrangement and presentation. In addition to classical paintings, depictions of Louis' reign also adorned the palace walls. The whole structure and its decorations were intended to awe visitors with the splendor, wealth and taste of

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2024-431: A wall (or sometimes in tents), or sometimes horizontally over a piece of furniture such as a table or bed. Some periods made smaller pieces, often long and narrow and used as borders for other textiles . Most weavers use a natural warp thread, such as wool , linen , or cotton . The weft threads are usually wool or cotton but may include silk , gold , silver , or other alternatives. In late medieval Europe , tapestry

2116-409: Is a plain weft-faced weave having weft threads of different colours worked over portions of the warp to form the design. European tapestries are normally made to be seen only from one side, and often have a plain lining added on the back. However, other traditions, such as Chinese kesi and that of pre-Columbian Peru , make tapestry to be seen from both sides. Tapestry should be distinguished from

2208-671: Is comparable in style. The most famous frieze hanging is the Bayeux Tapestry , actually an embroidery, which is 68.38 metres long and 0.5 metres wide (224.3 ft × 1.6 ft) and would have been even longer originally. This was made in England, probably in the 1070s, and the narrative of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 is very clear, explained by tituli in Latin . This may have been an Anglo-Saxon genre, as

2300-485: Is more suitable for creating new figurative designs than other types of woven textile, and the looms could be much larger. Kings and noblemen could fold up and transport tapestries from one residence to another. Many kings had "wardrobe" departments with their own buildings devoted to the care, repair, and movement of tapestries, which were folded into large canvas bags and carried on carts. In churches, they were displayed on special occasions. Tapestries were also draped on

2392-424: Is stretched vertically in front of the weaver, or horizontal "low-warp" looms, which were usual in large medieval and Renaissance workshops, but later mostly used for smaller pieces. The weaver always works on the back of the piece, and is normally following a full-size drawn or painted cartoon , or possibly another tapestry; depending on the set up, this reverses (is a mirror image of) the tapestry image. The cartoon

2484-622: Is the Mycenaean Greek 𐀲𐀟𐀊 , ta-pe-ja , written in the Linear B syllabary . "Tapestry" was not the common English term until near the end of the classic period for them. If not just called "hangings" or "cloths", they were known as "arras", from the period when Arras was the leading production centre. Arazzo is still the term for tapestry in Italian, while a number of European languages use variants based on Gobelins , after

2576-602: The Liber Eliensis records that the widow of the Anglo-Saxon commander Byrhtnoth gave Ely Abbey a tapestry or hanging celebrating his deeds, presumably in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry, the only surviving example of such a work. This was given immediately after his death in 991 at the Battle of Maldon , so had probably been hanging in his home previously. A group with narrative religious scenes in

2668-475: The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture , where he laid the basis of academicism and became the all-powerful, peerless master of 17th-century French art. It was during this period that he dedicated a series of works to the history of Alexander The Great ( The Battles of Alexander The Great ), and he did not miss the opportunity to make a stronger connection between the magnificence of Alexander and that of

2760-687: The Battle of Lepanto was commemorated with a Brussels set, and the defeat of the Spanish Armada with the Armada Tapestries (1591); these were made in Delft , by a team who also made many tapestries of Dutch naval victories. The Armada set were destroyed in the Burning of Parliament in 1834, but are known from prints. Both sets adopted a high and distant aerial view, which continued in many later sets of land battles, often combined with

2852-465: The Bible and Ovid 's Metamorphoses being two popular choices. It is a feature of tapestry weaving, in contrast to painting, that weaving an area of the work containing only relatively plain areas of the composition, such as sky, grass or water, still involves a relatively large amount of slow and skilled work. This, together with the client's expectation of an effect of overpowering magnificence, and

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2944-668: The Louvre and the Monaco Royal Collection . He was also the teacher of painter Ludovico Dorigny . The Baroque ceiling in the Chambre des Muses at the Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte outside Paris, was "decorated by Charles Le Brun's workshop". Many of Charles Le Brun's sketches and designs were later rendered into painting or sculpture by artists working under him. A restoration was completed in 2017 by

3036-550: The Oxford English Dictionary , the earliest use in English was in a will of 1434, mentioning a "Lectum meum de tapstriwerke cum leonibus cum pelicano". They give a wide definition, covering: "A textile fabric decorated with designs of ornament or pictorial subjects, painted, embroidered, or woven in colours, used for wall hangings, curtains , covers for seats, ..." before mentioning "especially" those woven in

3128-496: The 1530s for the Habsburgs, one of the most successful efforts to achieve an up-to-date Renaissance style. Technically, Brussels tapestries in the last quarter of the 15th century had already become sophisticated enough to begin to incorporate more illusionistic elements, distinguishing between different textures in their subject-matter, and including portraits of individuals (now mostly unknown) rather than generic figures. Over

3220-531: The Family of Darius," so delighted Louis XIV that he at once ennobled Le Brun (December, 1662), who was also created Premier Peintre du Roi ( First Painter of the King ) with a pension of 12,000 livres, the same amount as he had yearly received in the service of the magnificent Fouquet. The king had declared him "the greatest French artist of all time". "The Family of Darius," also known as "The Queens of Persia at

3312-488: The Feet of Alexander," was later cut down slightly in size by Le Brun, and retouched to disguise the alteration, presumably to make the painting similar in size to a painting by Paolo Veronese that Louis XIV had acquired. From this date all that was done in the royal palaces was directed by Le Brun. Designs had to be approved by the king before they could be rendered into paintings or sculptures. In 1663, he became director of

3404-565: The French factory; for example both Danish and Hungarian use gobelin (and in Danish tapet means wallpaper ). Thomas Campbell argues that in documents relating to the Tudor royal collection from 1510 onwards "arras" specifically meant tapestries using gold thread. Tapestry is a type of weaving . Various designs of looms can be used, including upright or "high-warp" looms, where the tapestry

3496-609: The Gobelins would also exert a strong influence on art elsewhere in Europe. The nature of his emphatic and pompous talent was in harmony with the taste of the King, who, full of admiration for the paintings by Le Brun for his triumphal entry into Paris (1660) and his decorations at the Château Vaux le Vicomte (1661), commissioned him to execute a series of subjects from the history of Alexander. The first of these, "Alexander and

3588-460: The Louvre, the number of his works for religious corporations and private patrons is enormous. Le Brun was also a fine portraitist and an excellent draughtsman, but he was not fond of portrait or landscape painting, which he felt to be a mere exercise in developing technical prowess. What mattered was scholarly composition, whose ultimate goal was to nourish the spirit. The fundamental basis on which

3680-698: The Netherlands had become very comfortable working with the Gothic style by the late 15th century, and were slow to reflect the stylistic changes of the Italian Renaissance ; perhaps pressure from the customers for tapestries led the way. Prints enabled Italian designs to be seen in the north. A distinctive Italian subject was the Petrarchan triumph , derived from his poem-cycle I trionfi (before 1374). The first recorded tapestries were

3772-486: The Valois and Habsburgs in recent decades was probably already the main centre for the highest quality weaving by 1500. But there were many other towns where tapestries were woven. Tapestries were commissioned in the Netherlands by rulers across Europe, from King Henry VIII in England, to Pope Leo X and Sigismund II Augustus of Poland and Lithuania. Ownership of smaller tapestries was also spreading more widely through

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3864-450: The cartoon was usually cut into strips and placed beneath the weaving, where the weaver could see it through the "web" of threads. The Raphael Cartoons , which are very rare examples of surviving cartoons, were cut in this way. In European "industrial" tapestries the warp threads were normally wool, but in more artisanal settings, and older ones, linen was often used. The weft threads were wool, with silk, silver or gold thread used in

3956-720: The case of tapestries with precious metal thread, they might be burned to recover the metal, as Charles V's soldiers did to some of the Sistine Chapel tapestries , and the French Directory government did in the 1790s to most of the royal collection from the Renaissance. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance , a rich tapestry panel woven with symbolic emblems , mottoes , or coats of arms called

4048-408: The case of those made for patrons outside the top of the elite, were cut up and reused for such functions when they, or tapestries in general, came to seem old-fashioned. Bags, and sometimes clothing were other re-uses. The Beauvais Manufactory became rather a specialist in furniture upholstery, which enabled it to survive after the French Revolution when this became the main remaining market. In

4140-429: The century oil paintings mostly moved from a panel support to canvas, allowing a far greater size, and began to compete seriously with tapestries. The authenticity of the master's touch that paintings allowed, but tapestry did not, became appreciated by the most sophisticated patrons, including the Habsburgs. However, Charles V and Philip II of Spain continued to spend huge sums on tapestries, apparently believing them

4232-596: The current owners, the de Vogüé family. The restored ceiling was unveiled to the public in March of that year. On 23 January 2013, artistic advisors for the Hôtel Ritz Paris , Wanda Tymowska and Joseph Friedman, announced the discovery of The Sacrifice of Polyxena , an early work of Le Brun. The picture, dated 1647, ornamented the Coco Chanel suite of the famous Parisian palace, and went unnoticed for over

4324-416: The customer's room. Much is unclear about the early history of tapestry, as actual survivals are very rare, and literary mentions in Greek, Roman and other literature almost never give enough detail to establish that a tapestry technique is being described. From ancient Egypt, tapestry weave pieces using linen were found in the tombs of both Thutmose IV (d. 1391 or 1388 BC) and Tutankhamen (c. 1323 BC),

4416-557: The department of public works, showed no favour to Le Brun who was Colbert's favorite, and in spite of the king's continued support Le Brun felt a bitter change in his position. This contributed to the illness that on 22 February 1690 ended in his death in Gobelins (his private mansion, in Paris). Le Brun primarily worked for King Louis XIV, for whom he executed large altarpieces and battle pieces . His most important paintings are at Versailles. Besides his gigantic labours at Versailles and

4508-458: The different technique of embroidery , although large pieces of embroidery with images are sometimes loosely called "tapestry", as with the famous Bayeux Tapestry , which is in fact embroidered. From the Middle Ages on European tapestries could be very large, with images containing dozens of figures. They were often made in sets, so that a whole room could be hung with them. In English, "tapestry" has two senses, both of which apply to most of

4600-497: The director of the academy-based his art was unquestionably to make his paintings speak, through a series of symbols, costumes and gestures that allowed him to select for his composition the narrative elements that gave his works a particular depth. For Le Brun, a painting represented a story one could read. Nearly all his compositions have been reproduced by celebrated engravers. In his posthumously published treatise, Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions (1698), he promoted

4692-512: The duke's son). None of the tapestries Philip commissioned appear to survive. Philip's taste for tapestries was to continue very strongly in his descendants, including the Spanish Habsburgs. The new style of grand tapestries that were large and often in sets mostly showed subjects with large numbers of figures representing narrative subjects. The iconography of a high proportion of narrative tapestries goes back to written sources,

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4784-465: The early period, but rulers supported some workshops, or other wealthy people. The merchants or dealers were very likely also involved. Where surviving tapestries from before around 1600 were made is often unclear; from 1528 Brussels , by then clearly the main centre, required its weavers to mark tapestries of any size with the city's mark and that of the weaver or merchant. At any one time from 1350 to 1600 probably only one or two centres could produce

4876-444: The elements sized at a consistent perspective scale. Tapestries whose main content was landscape and animals are known as verdure subjects (from the French for "greenery"). This genre has suffered more than most from colour changes as the greens of tapestries are especially prone to fade, or turn to blues. Smaller tapestries of this type remained popular until the 18th century, and had the advantage that workshops could make them without

4968-414: The expression of the emotions in painting. Le Brun's view on emotions, which were known as "passions" at the time, drew heavy influence from the work of René Descartes . The facial expressions, which Le Brun outlined as a template for subsequent artists to follow, were believed to reveal the condition of the soul. It had much influence on art theory for the next two centuries. Many of his drawings are in

5060-461: The finest and most versatile French artists of his time. Décorations: Canvases: Publications: [REDACTED] Media related to Charles Le Brun at Wikimedia Commons Tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art , traditionally woven by hand on a loom . Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical pieces are intended to hang vertically on

5152-490: The gallery of Hercules was painted by him. Le Brun started work on the project in 1650, shortly after his return from Italy. The decoration continued intermittently over twelve years or so, as it was interrupted by the renovation of Vaux le Vicomte . In 1660 they established the Gobelins manufactory , which at first was a great school for the manufacture, not of tapestries only, but of every class of furniture required in

5244-495: The great King. While he was working on The Battles , Le Brun's style became much more personal as he moved away from the ancient masters that influenced him. Work on the Gallery of Apollo in the Louvre was interrupted in 1677 when Lebrun accompanied the king to Flanders (on his return from Lille he painted several compositions in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye ), and finally—for they remained unfinished at his death—by

5336-478: The hotel of Gramont in Paris on 27 May 1710. Lett, Matthieu (2020). René-Antoine Houasse: Peindre pour Louis XIV (in French). Paris: Arthéna. ISBN   978-2-903239-65-7 . OCLC   1154781174 . Charles Le Brun Charles Le Brun ( French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl lə bʁœ̃] ; baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French painter , physiognomist , art theorist , and

5428-557: The importation of a group of skilled workers from the "Flemish" centres. The main weaving centres were ruled by the French and Burgundian branches of the House of Valois , who were extremely important patrons in the Late Medieval period. This began with the four sons of John II of France (d. 1362), whose inventories reveal they owned hundreds of tapestries between them. Almost the only clear survival from these collections, and

5520-408: The introduction of the full Italian High Renaissance style to tapestry, and the top northern designers now attempted to adopt it, which was rather a struggle for them, although the wide distribution of prints across Europe gave them one easy route, which many took. Les Chasses de Maximilien (The Hunts of Maximilian) was a series of twelve huge Brussels tapestries designed by Bernard van Orley in

5612-433: The king. The Escalier des Ambassadeurs was the main staircase at the entryway to Versailles from its completion in 1679 until its destruction in 1752. The king was so pleased with its appearance that he reportedly referred to it as "Monsieur Le Brun's staircase" when he showed it to an ambassador from Spain in 1679. At the death of Colbert, François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois , who succeeded as superintendent in

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5704-433: The largest and finest royal orders, and groups of highly skilled weavers migrated to new centres, often driven to move by wars or the plague. At first Paris led the field, but the English occupation there after 1418 sent many to Arras , already a centre. Arras in turn was sacked in 1477, leading to the rise of Tournai , until a serious plague early in the next century. Brussels had been growing in importance, and now became

5796-526: The largest set of 15th-century survivals, showing the hunting of bears, boars, deer, swans, otters, and falconry. Very fashionably dressed ladies and gentlemen stroll around beside the slaughter. Another set , from after 1515, show a similar late-medieval style, although partly made with silk, so extra-expensive. But the twelve pieces in Les Chasses de Maximilien (1530s, Louvre), made in Brussels for

5888-579: The latter a glove and a robe. Pieces in wool, given a wide range of dates around two millennia ago, have been found in a cemetery at Sanpul (Shampula) and other sites near Khotan in the Tarim Basin . They appear to have been made in a variety of places, including the Hellenistic world . The largest fragments, known as the Sampul tapestry and probably Hellenistic in origin, apparently came from

5980-503: The latter's theories of art. While in Rome, Le Brun studied ancient Roman sculpture , made copies after Raphael , and absorbed the influence of the local painters. On his return to Paris in 1646, Le Brun found numerous patrons, of whom Nicholas Fouquet was the most important, for whom he painted a large portrait of Anne of Austria . Employed at Vaux-le-Vicomte , Le Brun ingratiated himself with Cardinal Mazarin , then secretly pitting Jean-Baptiste Colbert against Fouquet. Le Brun

6072-473: The most expensive tapestries. Some famous designs, such as the Sistine Chapel tapestries and the Story of Abraham set probably first made for King Henry VIII , survive in versions with precious metals and other versions without. Using silk might increase the cost by four times, and adding gold thread increased the cost enormously, to perhaps fifty times that of wool alone. The weavers were usually male, as

6164-446: The most famous tapestry from the 14th century, is the huge Apocalypse Tapestry , a very large set made for Louis I, Duke of Anjou in Paris between 1377 and 1382. Another of the brothers, Philip the Bold , Duke of Burgundy (d. 1404) was probably an even more extravagant spender, and presented many tapestries to other rulers around Europe. Several of the tapestry-weaving centres were in his territories, and his gifts can be seen as

6256-619: The most important centre, which it remained until the Eighty Years War disrupted all the Netherlands. Brussels had a revival in the early 17th century, but from around 1650 the French factories were increasingly overtaking it, and remained dominant until both fashion and the upheavals of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars brought the virtual end of the traditional demand for large tapestries. There

6348-659: The most magnificent form of decoration, and one that maintained continuity with their Burgundian ancestors. The early part of the 17th century saw the taste for tapestry among the elite continuing, although painting was steadily gaining ground. Brussels remained much the most important weaving centre, and Rubens , mostly based in Antwerp not far away, brought the grand Baroque style to the medium, with Jacob Jordaens and others also designing many. In later generations important designers included Justus van Egmont (d. 1674), Ludwig van Schoor (d. 1702) and Jan van Orley (d. 1735,

6440-441: The nobility and bourgeoisie . From 1528 tapestries of larger sizes made in Brussels had to be so marked, and with the maker's or dealer's mark, making the task of the historian much easier. After an agreement between the relevant guilds in 1476, the cartoons for the main designs had to be supplied by a member of the painters' guild, while the weavers could elaborate these with detail, especially in millefeur designs. This ensured

6532-629: The occasion. The Portuguese Pastrana Tapestries (1470s) were an early example, and a rare survival from so early. Many sets were produced of the lives of classical heroes that included many battle scenes. Not only the Trojan War , Alexander the Great , Julius Caesar and Constantine I were commemorated, but also less likely figures such as Cyrus the Great of ancient Persia . There were many 15th-century sets of contemporary wars, especially celebrating Habsburg victories. Charles V commissioned

6624-426: The patron when he sat in state or dined, and were made for many nobles who could not afford the huge narrative sets bought by royalty. Enghien was a smaller weaving centre that seems to have specialized in these. Earlier types of heraldic tapestries had often repeated elements of the heraldry in patterns. After about 1520 the top workshops moved away from millefleur settings towards naturalistic landscape, with all

6716-478: The production centres were not in fact in the County of Flanders . Before reaching the weaving workshop, the commissioning process typically involved a patron, an artist, and a merchant or dealer who sorted out the arrangements and contracts. Some tapestries seem to have been made for stock, before a customer had emerged. The financing of the considerable costs of setting up a workshop is often obscure, especially in

6808-472: The remoteness of the main centres from Italian influence, led to northern compositions remaining crammed with figures and other details long after classicizing trends in Italian Renaissance painting had reduced the crowding in paintings. An important challenge to the northern style was the arrival in Brussels, probably in 1516, of the Raphael Cartoons for the pope's Sistine Chapel commission of

6900-568: The royal palaces. Commanding the industrial arts through the Gobelins—of which he was director—and the whole artistic world through the academy—in which he successively held every post—Le Brun imprinted his own character on all that was produced in France during his lifetime. He was the originator of Louis XIV Style and gave a direction to the national tendencies which endured centuries after his death. The artistic output of artists and students from

6992-485: The styles of imported luxury fabrics such as Byzantine silk , seem to have been the common designs. Of the tapestries mentioned above, the Cloth of St Gereon best represents this style. A decisive shift in European tapestry history came around 1350, and in many respects set the pattern for the industry until the end of its main period of importance, in the upheavals following the French Revolution. The tapestries made for

7084-455: The taste for tapestry, and was arguably the finest period in the history of the medium. By now the tapestry-producing towns were mostly ruled by the Habsburg family , who replaced the Valois as the dominant patrons. At the start of the century Tournai was perhaps still the largest weaving centre, but after a plague it was replaced by Brussels, which as the Netherlandish administrative capital of

7176-576: The vast labours of Versailles , where he reserved for himself the Halls of War and Peace ( Salons de la Guerre and de la Paix , 1686), the Ambassadors' Staircase, and the Great Hall of Mirrors ( Galerie des Glaces , 1679–1684). Le Brun's decoration is not only a work of art, it is the definitive monument of a reign. In 1669, Louis XIV elected to completely renovate Versailles, which was then

7268-588: The very small number of customers able to commission the best pieces were now extremely large, and extremely expensive, very often made in sets, and often showed complicated narrative or allegorical scenes with large numbers of figures. They were made in large workshops concentrated in a number of cities in a relatively small region of northern France and the Southern Netherlands (partly to be near supplies of English wool). By convention all these are often called "Flemish tapestries", although most of

7360-477: The victories of the person commissioning them. Philip the Bold commissioned a Battle of Roosbeke set two years after his victory in 1382 , which was five metres high and totalled over 41 metres in width. John of Gaunt , Duke of Lancaster insisted it was changed when Philip displayed it at a diplomatic meeting in Calais in 1393 to negotiate a peace treaty; Gaunt regarded the subject-matter as inappropriate for

7452-560: The walls of palaces and castles for insulation during winter, as well as for decorative display. For special ceremonial processions such as coronations, royal entries and weddings, they would sometimes be displayed outside. The largest and best tapestries, designed for more public spaces in palaces, were only displayed on special occasions, reducing wear and fading. Presumably the smaller personal rooms were hung permanently. Many smaller pieces were made as covers for furniture or cushions, or curtains and bed hangings. Others, especially in

7544-594: The work was physically demanding; spinning the threads was usually a female preserve. Apart from the design and materials, the quality of tapestries varies with the tightness of the weaving. One modern measure of this is the number of warp threads per centimetre. It is estimated that a single weaver could produce a square yard of medium quality tapestry in a month, but only half that of the finest quality. The success of decorative tapestry can be partially explained by its portability ( Le Corbusier once called tapestries "nomadic murals"). The fully hand-woven tapestry form

7636-519: The works discussed here. Firstly it means work using the tapestry weaving technique described above and below, and secondly it means a rather large textile wall hanging with a figurative design. Some embroidered works, like the Bayeux Tapestry , meet the second definition but not the first. The situation is complicated by the French equivalent tapisserie also covering needlepoint work, which can lead to confusion, especially with pieces such as furniture covers, where both techniques are used. According to

7728-483: The workshop of Maarten Reymbouts the Younger in Brussels, to be first seen on the occasion of his Royal entry to Antwerp in late 1599. A set produced for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough showing his victories was varied for different clients, and even sold to one of his opponents, Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria , after reworking the generals' faces and other details. Millefleur (or millefleurs)

7820-427: Was a background style of many different small flowers and plants, usually shown on a green ground, as though growing in grass. Often various animals are added, usually all at about the same size, so that a rabbit or dove and a unicorn are not much different in size. Trees are usually far too small and out of scale with the flowers around them, a feature also generally found in medieval painting. The millefleur style

7912-561: Was always some tapestry weaving, mostly in rather smaller workshops making smaller pieces, in other towns in northern France and the Low Countries. This was also the case in other parts of Europe, especially Italy and Germany. From the mid-16th century many rulers encouraged or directly established workshops capable of high-quality work in their domains. This was most successful in France, but Tuscany, Spain, England and eventually Russia had high-quality workshops, normally beginning with

8004-472: Was at this point that many old tapestries were cut to allow fitting around doors and windows. They also often suffered the indignity of having paintings hung on top of them. Some new tapestries were made to fit around a specific room; the design of the Gobelins set from Croome Court , now in New York, has a large field with an ornamental design that could easily be adjusted in size to fit the measurements of

8096-407: Was generally created from a smaller modello , which in "industrial" workshops from at least the late Middle Ages on was produced by a professional artist, who often had little or no further involvement in the process. The cartoon was traced onto the warp lines by the weaver, and then placed where it could still be seen, sometimes through a mirror, when it hung behind the weaver. With low-warp looms

8188-490: Was the driving force behind the establishment of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1648, and was elected as one of the original twelve elders in charge of its running. He remained a dominant figure at the academy and held the positions of chancellor in 1655 (from 1663 chancellor for life), rector from 1668 and director from 1683. When Colbert took control of the institution in 1661, Le Brun

8280-430: Was the grandest and most expensive medium for figurative images in two dimensions, and despite the rapid rise in importance of painting it retained this position in the eyes of many Renaissance patrons until at least the end of the 16th century, if not beyond. The European tradition continued to develop and reflect wider changes in artistic styles until the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars , before being revived on

8372-484: Was there to assist him in his endeavour to reorganise it with the goal that the academicians would work towards bringing about a theoretical foundation for a national French art . Both also founded the Academy of France at Rome in 1666 as a base for promising young artists who would live and learn there for a certain period on the expense of the crown. Another project Le Brun worked on was Hôtel Lambert . The ceiling in

8464-529: Was used for a range of different subjects from about 1400 to 1550, but mainly between about 1480 and 1520. In many subjects the millefleur background stretches to the top of the tapestry, eliminating any sky; the minimization of sky was already a feature of tapestry style; the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries show an early stage of the style. Prominent millefleur backgrounds, as opposed to those mostly covered with figures, are especially

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