Depicting a group of peasants dancing while others load a wagon with hay, this piece belonged to a set of genre tapestries loosely inspired by the paintings of David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690). During the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the Brussels workshops produced large numbers of these so-called Teniers tapestries from cartoons by artists like Jan van Orley and Augustin Coppens. Featuring genre figures in idealized landscapes, they provided a lighthearted contrast to the grander history and mythology tapestries then in vogue for the staterooms of European country houses. The tapestry is signed by the brothers Daniel and Urban Leyniers, who ran a highly successful partnership with Henry Reydams in Brussels from 1712.

Like the Ages of Man tapestries (also on display in this gallery and perhaps designed in the same artist's workshop), the subject of this tapestry explores the cyclical nature of time. Embodying October, peasants sow the fields with seed in a crisp Autumnal landscape. Jupiter, seated on a plough, looks down the scene. A Zodiacal belt encloses this medallion, with Scorpio triumphant. Pairs of women with hourglasses separate the signs, whilst the background shifts from bright daylight through dusk to dark night, thence back through dawn to day. In the upper corners are SUPERNAS, actually a summer wind, and NOTUS, a south wind. In the lower corners are further charmingly-observed scenes of country life.

Au devant d'un paysage plat où s'étend un village deux bâtiments d'une ferme occupent la partie droite, devant le plus lointain un homme décharge les bottes de foin d'une charrette qu'un autre attrape par la lucarne du mur pignon, à gauche sous des arbres une autre charrette de foin tirée par quatre chevaux se dirige vers la grange, au premier plan un couple s'éloigne, un autre danse sur la musique d'un joueur de cornemuse, tandis que deux autres encore devisent de part et d'autre d'un personnage en chapeau à plumes juché sur un âne franchissant la porte du bâtiment le plus rapproché, dans l'angle d'une porte proche un homme se soulage. Bordure : imitant un cadre, en plate-bande à godrons intégrant des acanthes selon un rythme 3-2, encadré d'un filet de perles à pics d'une part, d'autre part d'un filet en faisceau enrubanné, palmettes d'acanthes accompagnées de roses et de lambrequins dans les angles, trophées de carquois et d'arcs au centre des bordures haute et basse

With the crucified Christ anchoring the composition, a host of angels fills a turbulent sky, holding the symbols of the Passion. Below, John the Evangelist strides in from the left; at the right, Mary Magdalene, richly-dressed fitting to the popular perception of her as a reformed courtesan, elegantly crumples forward with hand-wringing grief. Also weeping, the Virgin Mary gazes up at her son, and a third holy woman, possibly Mary of Cleophas, embraces the cross. The painterly detail of the tapestry’s design extends to the minutely observed background landscape, in which the bracketing episodes of the carrying of the cross and the entombment can be glimpsed flanking the central scene. To this the virtuoso tapestry-weavers, clearly at the pinnacle of their profession, have brought a material sumptuousness which would have glimmered in the candlelight and which serve to rank this tapestry amongst the richest survivals of the period.

Entre deux groupes d'arbres noueux et dépourvus de feuilles, une maison couverte de chaume à auvent abrite un groupe de sept personnes sur la gauche et laisse découvrir un paysage hivernal sur la droite, une vieille femme tenant une rose apparaît à l'une des deux fenêtres du mur pignon de la maison à colombages du premier-plan, au-dessous de l'auvent font cercle autour d'un feu un couple de vieillards, une femme tenant un bébé emmailloté, un jeune homme en pourpoint sombre et béret et, légèrement en retrait, un autre couple dont la femme assise tient un verre sur les genoux, sur la droite une ville lointaine ainsi qu'un moulin à vent et une bâtisse aux fenêtres à meneaux plu proches dominent un espace gelé où évoluent et devisent des personnages, un homme précédé d'un chien porte un lourd fagot tandis qu'au premier plan un autre avec un bâton et une longe pousse deux porcs devant lui. Bordure : imitant un cadre, en plate-bande à godrons intégrant des acanthes selon un rythme 3-2, encadrée d'un filet de perles à pics d'une part, d'autre part d'un filet en faisceau enrubanné, palmettes d'acanthes accompagnées de roses et de lambrequins dans les angles, trophées de carquois et d'arcs au centre des bordures haute et basse

The tapestry's central image depicts a scene with a lady and two children respectfully greeting a king-like figure who is followed by three soldiers. This scene is framed on all four sides. The left, right, and bottom edges depict people in an architectural setting surrounded by foliage. The top of the frame is mainly decorated with foliage. At the center of the top frame is a flower arrangement with two angle-type figures on either side of it. Colors used include beige, blue, green, red, brown and gold. The textile is backed with a beige polyester fabric through which repairs have been made.

Like a classical statue come to life, Neptune, god of the seas, stands with his trident and a dolphin atop a pedestal amid curling plant tendrils, gamboling animals and putti, and elegant swags of drapery. In the cartouche above, Minerva receives a victory palm. This is the only intact version of Neptune from the thrice-woven series of tapestries called the Doria Grotesques. Perino del Vaga designed the eight-piece sequence in about 1545 for the naval commander Andrea Doria to add to the substantial tapestry collection in his glorious palazzo in Fassolo, then just outside the port city of Genoa. The Grotesques, each featuring a different deity, showcase Perino's dexterity in this decorative field, combining respect for antique prototypes with Raphael-inspired Renaissance grace. Neptune, celebrating the mythological figure with whom Doria most identified, was the most significant tapestry in the group. Though designed in Italy, the tapestries were made 500 miles away in the Southern Netherlands, almost certainly in Brussels, where the most celebrated weavers in the world worked. This Neptune is exquisitely woven in wool and silk in a subtle palette, with wonderful hatching and nuanced areas of light and shade that exploit the mediums interplay between trompe l'oeil relief and surface pattern.

Picking up the narrative from the tapestry of Aglauros’s Vision of the Bridal Chamber of Herse displayed near-by, this is the final episode in the story of the god Mercury’s love for the mortal princess of Athens, Herse. Emboldened by her jealous vision of Mercury and Herse’s union, Herse’s sister Aglauros barred his entry to her sister’s apartments. In his anger and frustration, Mercury transformed Aglauros into stone; in the tapestry, we see her disappearing into the door-frame. Mercury can seen again at the right, flying away and leaving the longed-for union with Herse unfulfilled. Such was the appeal of Lodi’s designs for this tapestry series that his cartoon-models were used, and reused, for decades: Willem de Pannnemaker, one of the most admired and successful master-weavers working in Brussels, directed the weaving of this sumptuous edition approximately thirty years after it was designed.

The story of Jacob as depicted in this set of six tapestries (1983.73.1–.6) begins with the scene of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob (Gen. 25:29–34). Esau, the hunter, sits with his bow and quiver at his feet. He clasps hands with Jacob, his brother, who is clad in the starred robe that will identify him throughout the story. By this handshake Esau and Jacob seal their agreement, and the former accepts a bowl of food in exchange for his birthright as firstborn. The secondary scenes represent different moments in time and serve to advance the story. In the center distance Esau is shown hunting with two dogs. To the right, Rebecca, mother of Esau and Jacob, is seen cooking outside the tent, probably preparing food for Jacob to present o his father, Isaac (Gen. 27). The narrative continues to unfold in the other tapestries, which depict Rachel giving her servant Bilhah to Jacob (Gen. 30:1–4), Rachel and Bilhah with her son Dan, and Jacob making a covenant with his father-in-law

1712 / 1728, Brussels

1712 / 1728, Brussels

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