Tapestry No. 4. Romulus proclaims a fête to Neptune, to attract young girls from neighbouring districts.
Tapestry No. 5. The rape of the Sabine women. Hersilia is presented to Romulus. The Sabine parents retire disconsolate.
Tapestry No. 6. Romulus gives laws to the people. He establishes the twelve lictors, summons the Senate, and builds a temple.
Group II. The Conquest of Tunis (12 Tapestries)
This series of tapestries, besides being of peculiar historical importance, is one of the very finest examples of the perfected Gothic-Renaissance school, and is worth noticing in much fuller detail than any others of the collection. Designed by Jan Vermay, or Vermeyen, and woven by Wilhelm Pannemaker, it was directly inspired by Charles himself, who determined to leave to posterity this magnificent record of an expedition of the success of which he can have felt no doubt. Vermeyen was commanded to accompany the Emperor, so that on the actual battlefield he might reproduce in pencil the stirring scenes that passed before his eyes.
Detailed instructions were given to the artist as to the manner in which his cartoons were to be designed. He bound himself to submit small sketches for Charles’ approval, to carry out any alterations and suggestions made by his patron, and finally to reproduce them “in the best and most vivid colours,” in the size that was required for the actual tapestries. The Emperor agreed to pay for them the sum of 1800 florins, a considerable amount according to the standards of the time.
To Wilhelm Pannemaker, the famous Flemish weaver, was entrusted the weaving of the tapestries. Determined that neither poverty of material nor careless workmanship should spoil the precious webs, Charles and his sister Mary of Hungary bound Pannemaker by a stringent contract, wherein the amount and quality of silk, and the number and value of the gold and silver threads were distinctly specified. The gold was to come from Milan, the silk from Granada. The finest wool was also commanded and the richest dyes. In order that the slow process of tapestry weaving might be expedited as much as possible, Pannemaker was to have seven men working at each tapestry. Each piece as it was finished was to be scrutinized by experts, whose corrections Pannemaker bound himself to follow, even if it should necessitate remaking the whole piece. The dyeing of the silk and wool required was specially undertaken in an unusual range of colours. We find a certain Louis Chausset, complaining that he had lost 160 pounds of fine silk that were spoilt while being tinted blue.
After the last alterations had been made the tapestries were declared definitely to be completed on April 21, 1554. They were sent to England to be exhibited at the wedding of Philip and Mary, and afterwards conducted with the utmost care back to Spain. For some time they were shown constantly at all great Court functions till the Emperor, fearful of the result of such constant wear, ordered a smaller set to be prepared. In 1740 Philip V had another reproduction made of the same size as the originals. Yet another copy exists in the Museum at Vienna. This was made by the Austrians who, when they succeeded the Spaniards, discovered the first ten cartoons and purchased them. Another tapestry was woven by Pannemaker that combined the subjects of Nos. 7 and 8 in this series. This was found by the Maréchal de Contades in a castle near Mechlin during the Seven Years’ War between France and Germany.
The Expedition Against Tunis
On the death of Mohammed the Hafsite in 1525, Khain-ad-Din Barbarossa took advantage of a dispute over the succession, to occupy Algiers in the name of the Sultan of Constantinople. The wars in Italy gave him the opportunity of consolidating his territories in the north of Africa, where he succeeded in establishing his dominion firmly, making Algiers his capital. At the end of the second Italian war Barbarossa swooped down on a small island in the possession of the Spaniards, and connected it with the mainland. From this stronghold he planned a series of brilliant coups that made him a serious menace to the kingdom of Naples and Sicily. He attacked and overthrew the native Tunisian dynasty under the pretence of restoring the rightful ruler, made himself master of this city as he had done of Algiers, and pushed his successes far into the interior. The menace was not lost upon Charles V. Availing himself of the plea for help urged by Al-Hasan, the son of Mohammed, the Emperor decided upon the conquest of Tunis and set sail from Barcelona on May 30, 1535.