A Court Scene
An important fine Brussels late Gothic Tapestry,
Flemish, c1500.
10ft 10in x 10ft 8in (330cm x 325cm)
Provenance: The Goldschmidt Collection, Amsterdam & Paris.
The creator of the first quarter of the 16th Century, a period dubbed The Belle Epoque was Jan Van Roome, court painter to Margaret of Austria. His Legend of Herbankand, which is signed, is generally regarded as the focal point in the style of Margaret and her court at Malines. In the present tapestry she can be seen seated as the Queen of Heaven amongst the courtiers all dressed in rich costumes, fashionable at the time, the solemn dignity of the figures are in rows creating a unified composition, a pattern in themselves, are further enchanced with beautiful flow of robes, curling drapery expressing calm and dignity, turning their heads to each other, as in deep conversation, hands showing with slight gestures. A court scene where one had the pleasant time for courtship, depicted in the union of the central couple whose families can be seen in celebration on either side of the couple.
There are interesting details in this tapestry, the canopy of state under which the queen sits is of Lucca silk which can be seen in only the finest tapestries of the time (see Legend of Our Lady of the Sands, Brussels Royal Museum of Art and History). The bearded figure is after a stained glass panel at Malines Cathedral and now in the Muse Royaux des Art et Histoire, Brussels, also this figure is in a tapestry of The Last Three Ages of Man from the series Twelve Ages of Man in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This can be explained as there were stock designs of cartoons which were cut into other tapestry, this tapestry must have been a commission for one of her courtiers, probably in the tapestry (small size of tapestry). The foreground and border sprinkled with exquisite floral details is a predecessor to the Millefleur tapestries.
The end of the 15th Century and beginning of the 16th Century were spent perfecting the style of the preceding century, it reached such a height that it was impossible to develop further on the same lines, it became too splendid, too remote from everyday life, though it gained in sophistication it lost its original spontaneity. Though the robes are three-dimensional, the concept is still flat and there it will stop.
Price : P.O.A.
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