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Lot Essay
Tapestry series depicting The Story of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra were much appreciated in the 17th century. The earliest was that designed by Karl van Mander the Younger (d. 1623) which was woven in Brussels, Delft, Gouda and Schoonhoven (a set of five are in the Spanish Royal Collection - see P. Junquera de Vega, C. Diaz Gallegos, Catalogo de Tapices del Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 1986, vol. II, pp. 104-109). Contemporary with the series which includes this tapestry, two additional series of the same subject were on the looms in Flanders; one was woven and probably designed in Antwerp (one example in the Quirinale - see N. Forti Grazzini, Il patrimonio artistico del Quirinale, Gli Arazzi, Rome, 1994, vol. II, pp. 350- 351) while the other was designed by Charles Poerson (d. 1667) and woven in Brussels by weavers including Jan Leyniers (d. 1686), Jan (d. circa 1677) and Jeroen Le Clerc (d. 1722) (a set of four in the musée des Arts décoratifs, Lyon - see G. Blazy, Lyon, Musée des Tissus, Musée des Arts décoratifs, Lyon, 1996, pp. 42-48). The most baroque and impressive version, however, is the series to which this tapestry belongs.
HISTORY OF THE SERIES
The tapestry series to which this lot belongs is first mentioned in a document of 7 June 1651. The weavers Geraert van der Strecken (d. 1677) and Jan van Leefdael (d. 1680) then signed a contract to supply a set of ten tapestries to the Antwerp merchant Louis Malo (d. after 1668) (J. Blazkova, E. Duverger, Les Tapisseries d'Octavio Piccolomini et le Marchand Anversois Louis Malo, St. Amandsberg, 1970, p. 97). Its creator is then revealed in a later contract in which Geraert Peemans (d. circa 1710), son-in-law of van der Strecken, agrees to supply a set with gold-thread to the Marshal Daumont, then in command of the citadel of Antwerp, based on the designs of Justus van Egmont (d. 1674).
DESIGNER
Justus van Egmont (d. 1674) was an Antwerp painter who had trained with Peter Paul Rubens between 1622 and 1625 before moving to Paris and working with Simon Vouet. Returning to Antwerp via Brussels in 1653, he established himself as a successful designer of tapestries for both cities. Several tapestry sets, including the highly successful Story of Zenobia Queen of Palmyra and Story of Caesar Augustus, can be attributed to him.
COMPARABLE TAPESTRIES
A set of three tapestries from the same series but with slightly differing top border (the side borders of this lot are probably not following the original designs) remains today in the Quirinale, Rome (N. Forti Grazzini, op cit., pp. 199-205), while a further five panels, probably from the same set, are in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence. The borders of these tapestries include a landscape panel to the lower border and three putti and a bird to the side borders. Identical borders are also on a set of five tapestries from this series, originally from the Barberini collection, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (E. Standen, European Post-Medieval Tapestries and Related Hangings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, vol. I, pp. 206-217). Another set of eight panels, formerly the Imperial Austrian Collection, is divided with one panel (this subject) in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and seven in the Castle Prague (for Vienna piece L. Baldass, Die Wiener Gobelinssammlung, Vienna, 1920, cat. 204). Another set, consisting of five panels, with differing borders is also in the Quirinale (Forti Grazzini, op.cit., pp. 256 -267). All of the above sets are signed by either Geraert van der Strecken (d. 1677) and/or Jan van Leefdael (d. after 1662). Another set of fourteen tapestries from this series mixed with scenes from The Story of Julius Ceasar, but with differing borders and signed by Geraert Peemans and Jan van Leefdael, is in the Art Institute of Chicago (C. Mayer, Masterpieces of Western Textiles from the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1969, p. 30).
(Forti Grazzini, op cit., pp. 199-200 and Standen, op cit., pp. 206-208)
HISTORY OF THE SERIES
The tapestry series to which this lot belongs is first mentioned in a document of 7 June 1651. The weavers Geraert van der Strecken (d. 1677) and Jan van Leefdael (d. 1680) then signed a contract to supply a set of ten tapestries to the Antwerp merchant Louis Malo (d. after 1668) (J. Blazkova, E. Duverger, Les Tapisseries d'Octavio Piccolomini et le Marchand Anversois Louis Malo, St. Amandsberg, 1970, p. 97). Its creator is then revealed in a later contract in which Geraert Peemans (d. circa 1710), son-in-law of van der Strecken, agrees to supply a set with gold-thread to the Marshal Daumont, then in command of the citadel of Antwerp, based on the designs of Justus van Egmont (d. 1674).
DESIGNER
Justus van Egmont (d. 1674) was an Antwerp painter who had trained with Peter Paul Rubens between 1622 and 1625 before moving to Paris and working with Simon Vouet. Returning to Antwerp via Brussels in 1653, he established himself as a successful designer of tapestries for both cities. Several tapestry sets, including the highly successful Story of Zenobia Queen of Palmyra and Story of Caesar Augustus, can be attributed to him.
COMPARABLE TAPESTRIES
A set of three tapestries from the same series but with slightly differing top border (the side borders of this lot are probably not following the original designs) remains today in the Quirinale, Rome (N. Forti Grazzini, op cit., pp. 199-205), while a further five panels, probably from the same set, are in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence. The borders of these tapestries include a landscape panel to the lower border and three putti and a bird to the side borders. Identical borders are also on a set of five tapestries from this series, originally from the Barberini collection, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (E. Standen, European Post-Medieval Tapestries and Related Hangings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, vol. I, pp. 206-217). Another set of eight panels, formerly the Imperial Austrian Collection, is divided with one panel (this subject) in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and seven in the Castle Prague (for Vienna piece L. Baldass, Die Wiener Gobelinssammlung, Vienna, 1920, cat. 204). Another set, consisting of five panels, with differing borders is also in the Quirinale (Forti Grazzini, op.cit., pp. 256 -267). All of the above sets are signed by either Geraert van der Strecken (d. 1677) and/or Jan van Leefdael (d. after 1662). Another set of fourteen tapestries from this series mixed with scenes from The Story of Julius Ceasar, but with differing borders and signed by Geraert Peemans and Jan van Leefdael, is in the Art Institute of Chicago (C. Mayer, Masterpieces of Western Textiles from the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1969, p. 30).
(Forti Grazzini, op cit., pp. 199-200 and Standen, op cit., pp. 206-208)