David and Bathsheba drapery (detail of the 6th piece),

Brussels, 1510-1515. Castle of Écouen,

Musée national de la Renaissance.

 

 

Arras

 

First we must mention this celebrated manufactory, which furnished all the countries of Europe with its splendid productions, and even gave its name to Italian tapestry work. Arazzo is still the term for hangings, and Arazzeria is the name of the manufactory.

We are unable to fix the period of its foundation. In 1551, we find mention of an Arras orphrey[20] among old accounts. We have also alluded to this particular inventory of Charles V in 1379: a large sheet belonging to Arras, the battles of Judas Machabeus and Anthogus.

If Arras was the true centre of the carpet industry of the Middle Ages, the misfortunes of war deprived it of its sceptre. Its manufactory was ruined when the town was destroyed by Louis XI. It is an error, therefore, to accredit Arras with the celebrated tapestries executed from the cartoons of Raphael, which are preserved at the Vatican under the name of Arazzi della scuola vecchia. They came from the manufactory in Brussels, which is the heading under which we will discuss them.

 

Lille

 

The high-warp industry dates back to the 14th century in Lille. This in no way implies that Lille entered the high historical conceptions of the time. On the contrary, for a long time we hear of banquiers as covers for seats, cushions, hangings with armorial bearings, coat of arms for cities, and red tapestries, some with white fleurs-de-lis; in short, of all ordinary productions. It is in the 16th century, under the control of the House of Austria, that art is developed. Mary, sister of Charles V and governess of the Low Countries, passed a decree in 1538 concerning manufactories, designed to repress certain frauds, especially embellished Hyder tapestries of few colours or substances. This artifice is only permitted to be used for faces and nude limbs, The assortment of colours was not yet sufficiently complete to include modelling flesh with woven wools, and this tolerance, a continuation of the customs adopted in the 14th century, was granted.

The tapestry industry had reached such a rich and famous time in Flanders that Charles V wished to regulate it in a definitive manner. In 1544, he published the Ordonnance statut et edict sur le fait et conduyte du stil et mestier des tapissiers. We have already remarked that the most ancient Lille works are principally ornamental and furnishing tapestries; still, figures must also have been executed there. Pennemacker inaugurated the particular style known as verdures in the 17th century in which the landscape background assumes a primary importance and the figures become mere accessories. Jean de Melter and his son-in-law Guillaume Wernier try to rival Brussels in tapestries with figures, especially devoting to the Tinnières, that is to say, the village scenes painted by David Teniers or in his style. Connoisseurs will best recognise tapestries from Lille from others they encounter based on the obligatory mark of the white fleur-de-lis on a red background.

 

Brussels

 

We look forward to addressing the history of Brussels, the important centre towards which all the admiration given to the so-called Flemish tapestries should converge. The first tapestries that can with certainty be attributed to this celebrated manufactory are those from the time of Louis XII and the beginning of the Renaissance, all of which display marvellous style and noble composition. The borders are perfectly characterised, they are composed, not of garlands of flowers, but of branches placed one over the other; the vine, the mulberry, a bunch of iris, pomegranate, etc. on a dark blue background, with gold highlights.

It is certain that the cartoons of Raphael, preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, were executed in Brussels and compose the priceless eleven piece tapestry series still in the Vatican. The eleventh, previously presumed to be lost, the Coronation of the Virgin, was discovered in 1869 by Paliard, who offered a valuable description about the borders, saying that they:

are decorated with flowers, fruits, birds, sirens, and spirits of small dimensions, with their colouring on a gold background; they each have the same breadth of thirty centimetres, like the vertical and upper horizontal borders of the Conversion of St Paul and of the Miraculous Draught, for these three subjects, placed side by side, filled the farther end of the Sistine chapel, the Miraculous Draught on the left, the Coronation in the centre over the altar, and the Conversion of St Paul on the right.

With the 16th century, therefore, we see the commencement of the system of bordering which was destined to outlive the century and almost completely replace the cut branches from the end of the 15th.

As we have said, the fabrication was carefully executed; gold, silver, and silk fabrics were abundant and the borders match the description of those we detailed from the Vatican. Flowers and fruits surround the grouped niches or cartouches with small mythological figures. We see Paris and Helen, Pyramus and Thisbe, Ulysses and Circe, Leander and Hero, Mars and Venus, Jupiter and Calisto, Mercury and Herse. In a series representing themes inspired by ancient history and exhibited by Recappe, we see Susanna surprised by the elders, and a woman bathing, without a doubt Bethsabée, to whom a servant is giving a hand-written note, which could be that of a signature.