These tapestries, especially remarkable for their beautiful borders, were woven probably by Nicolas Leiniers, a well-known tapissier of the sixteenth century. They bear the Brussels mark, but the designer of the cartoons is unknown. They are carried out in silk and wool, enriched with gold and silver thread. The tapestries passed into the possession of Philip II., and are known to have been used in the funeral ceremonies of Francis II. of France. There is in existence the account which was rendered by Philip’s tapestry maker to his master for the transportation of the tapestries from Madrid to Toledo, where the funeral took place.
The tapestries represent episodes in the life of the great Persian conqueror, and certain of the legends that were current about his parentage. The designer of the cartoons seems to have followed the Thucedidean account of the delivering of the boy Cyrus to a shepherd, and his subsequent recognition by Astyages. Cyrus’s wars against the people of Lydia and his capture of Crœsus are, of course, historic. There is a legend related by some of the early historians that Cyrus desired to put Crœsus to death at the stake, a proceeding which would have been directly contrary to the principles of the Zoroastrian religion. The designer of the tapestries appears to have got hold of a distorted form of this story in the fifth panel of this series.
The ghastly end imagined by the cartoonist for the conqueror is wholly fictitious. It is probable that Cyrus was killed actually on the field of battle.
Group 21. The Story of Diana or Artemis (7 Tapestries)
It is under this name that this series of tapestries is classed in the inventories. On the plates of the pieces themselves, however, only the name, Diana, is employed. The series is the only one of French origin in the Spanish royal collection. It is from the Gobelins looms, which were established in 1603 by Van der Planken and Mare de Comano by contract with Henry IV. on the settlement of the Civil Wars.
The life of Diana was a favourite subject of the French tapestry weavers from this time onward, and the pieces were eagerly purchased by the ladies who enjoyed the favour of the Navarrois king. Guiffrey gives a detailed account of all these series in his large Histoire de la Tapisserie en France.
The designer of the series in the royal collection is unknown. It is a fine example of the florid art of the Renaissance. The borders are especially fine, containing medallions supported by nymphs and satyrs garlanded with fruit and flowers. In the orders of two of the plates are monograms of silk and gold similar to that in Les Noces de l’Empereur Otton in the National Museum at Munich. Coats-of-arms are seen on the scrolls that surmount the panels. In the centre are the arms of Colonna with a ducal crown; to the right a chequered shield with argent and purple squares; to the left an escutcheon carrying two wolves.
The subjects of the different tapestries are as follow:
(1) Latona changing the labourers into frogs.
(2) Diana surrounded by dogs.