TWO SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF CYRUS: In the first (No. 26) Cyrus captures Astyages, his grandfather. Soldiers stand about, and in the background the army is assembled.
In the second (No. 27) Thomyris has the head of Cyrus offered as a human sacrifice. An attendant is placing the head in a gold basin and soldiers standing about draw back in horror. In the background a battle wages.
Illustrated: Hauser y Menet, Los Tapices de la Corona de España, vol. 2, pls. 119, 121.
Lent by Mr. & Mrs. Daniel C. Jackling.
These two pieces, showing the moment of greatest triumph and the ultimate defeat of Cyrus, the great world conqueror, are from a famous set that has been woven several times. One of these sets, belonging to the royal family of France, was used in the funeral service of Francis II. Another group from the series is in the Royal Spanish Collection. The only set known with a weaver's signature bears the mark of Nicolas Leyniers, and it is entirely probable that all of the examples, including these two, are from those looms.
They are very fine examples of a type of design perfected in the first half of the XVIth century in Brussels. The fullness of details in the background serves to keep the textile rich and interesting and to throw into sharp silhouette the dominant figures. The intricate and decorative borders that are used on these pieces well illustrate one of the most important contributions of the Renaissance to tapestry design.
28 BRUSSELS, XVI CENTURY
Wool and Silk.
H. 8 ft. 10 in.
W. 7 ft. 2 in.
Lent by William Baumgarten & Company.
THE PENTECOST: The Apostles and the members of the Early Church are gathered together. The tongues of fire descend upon them, and the Holy Ghost appears like a dove between the figures of God and Jesus revealed above. A wide border of scroll with inset medallions of biblical scenes. In the upper border a papal coat of arms.
Renaissance tapestries in so intimate a scale that yet are not miniature occur rather seldom. The piece has great clarity and brilliance and carries forcefully the religious feeling of the episode.
In the selvage the Brussels city mark and the weaver's initials, C. S. The mark is unidentified.