This tapestry is one of eight that reproduce, in part, a set of twenty ordered in 1520 by Pope Leo X for the Hall of the Consistory in the Vatican.  The design was conceived as an allegorical celebration of the golden age under the Medicis and under Leo X in particular. The theme and format of the set may have been conceived by Raphael (both of the putti in this tapestry derive from lost paintings by him), but the designs were executed by his pupils.  Several of the preparatory sketches are in the hand of Giovanni de Udine, while the cartoons were painted in Brussels by Tommaso Vincidor, who traveled there for that purpose in 1520.The ground of the original set was woven in gold thread, which may account for its disappearance during the late eighteenth century, a period in which many historic tapestries were burned in order to extract the precious metals they contained.  The seventeenth-century reweavings imitate the golden effect with striations of yellow silk and wool.

Tapisserie à dominante rouge représentant le mariage, à Séville, de Charles Quint âgé de 26 ans, et de sa cousine Isabelle de Portugal. Bordures d'amours, de corbeilles et de paniers de fleurs, de cornes d'abondance et de guirlandes de fleurs et fruits au naturel ; Bordures de guirlandes et paniers de fleurs, fruits et légumes, animées de putti ; dans la bordure supérieure, un cartouche indique le sujet de la scène ; il est flanqué de part et d’autre d’un putto tenant un manche en bois auquel pend un brasero, allusion à l’amour éternel.

This tapestry was once part of an eight-piece set representing Giochi di Putti, or Cherubs’ Games. Pope Leo X commissioned the series as an allegorical celebration of the golden age under the Medici, and it was to be displayed in the Vatican’s Hall of the Consistory. Probably conceived by Raphael, the tapestries’ designs were executed by his pupils, including Giovanni da Udine. Tommaso Vincidor painted their cartoons (the full-size models copied by the weavers) in Brussels.Unfortunately, Leo’s Brussels-woven, sixteenth-century tapestry set does not survive, but multiple copies were made, including these seventeenth-century tapestries attributed to Flemish weavers working in Rome in the newly established tapestry workshop funded by the Barberini family. Here, the weavers used hatching to skillfully depict the volume and rosy hues of the putti’s flesh. A glorious range of dyes captures the abundance of fruit, vegetables, and flowers in the swags suspended behind them. The mustard yellow ground imitates the gilt-silver used in Leo’s lost original.

La scène est tirée du passage des Actes des Apôtres (chap. 14, versets 8-18)  dans lequel il est dit que Paul - qui est arrivé dans la ville de Listra avec Barnabé - guérit un paralytique. En voyant cela, la foule les considérant comme deux divinités, pour les remercier, préparère des couronnes et des animaux pour le sacrifice. On voit à gauche la population de Lystre, accompagnant les prêtres de Zeus, au centre, prêts à sacrifier un taureau. Sur la droite, voyant cela, Paul s'apprette à déchirer son vêtement et Barnabé est en prière. Bordure à fond d'or avec des cartouches en camayeux couleur bronze doré représentant des scènes du Nouveau Testament, putti et guirlandes de fleurs et fruits dans les angles et au centre de chaque côté ; au centre de la bordure supérieure, un cartouche ovale destiné à recevoir les armes du propriétaire ; au centre de la bordure inférieure, un cartouche avec une inscription.

1635~, United Kingdom

1635~, United Kingdom