This beautiful tapestry was made by a famous Parisian company called Gobelins in the 17th century. It was created for Louis XIVth and is part of a series called 'The History of Alexander.'It hangs in the Museum of Beaux Arts in the Palais Carnoles in Menton.
Beautiful indeed, though 'Gobelins' still first makes me think of 'goblins'! :)
ReplyDeleteune magnifique tapisserie
ReplyDeletePerhaps you have heard of the Biltmore House? A Rockerfeller mansion in North Carolina, opened to the public many years ago and visited by hundreds of thousands in any given year.
ReplyDeleteThey have several huge tapestries hanging there in hallways upstairs. I always envision myself sitting there looking out over hundreds of acres of virgin forests around Ashville, North Carolina, smoking a cigarette, pulling the silk brocade lanyard and asking the butler to bring up some freshly brewed coffee from the kitchen in the basement. I don't know, maybe that is a sign of reincarnation (who was I? the Butler or the host).
Biltmore House
I would have thought Abraham Lincoln wouldn't have been the butler :-)
ReplyDeleteNice to see the tapestry so close-up. Probably a lot clearer than in the (darkened?) museum room.
Being a weaver myself, I am in awe of those early works. But I have to admit that the hours that went into something of this size, make me uneasy. It doesn't have that much of an advantage over machine produced work.
Except of course, if the yarns were visibly handspun to lend at least an indication of handwork.
But that is not what they were after in Louis' day.
That is real art.
ReplyDeleteCostas
A lovely tapestry!!!
ReplyDeletesuper captures.
Jilly:
ReplyDeleteBeautiful - in no other work of art is the handicraft so symbolic and and presented in such astonishing detail.
cheers,
Joanny
You should visit the Gobelins Museum in Paris. It is amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteV
Yes the Gobelins tapestries are just exquisite. I agree with Joco, the number of hours make me uneasy. I wonder how many people at a time worked at one tapestry and how long they took to complete?
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