The tapestry was bought from the dealer Madame Duruy for £1,200, with recommendations from William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones as Art Referees.
Medallion near the top left-hand corner, containing a rayed sun with the letter 'S' encircled by the motto 'Plus quautre' in a form used by Charles VIII of France and Anne of Brittany (from 1495 he used the device of a flaming sword). This tapestry is the ninth in the series of eleven listed in the Amboise inventory of 1494, and Charles VIII paid for changes to the heraldic devices (to include his sun) which indicates that the set had previously belonged to someone else. The new emblem was expertly woven in to replace original arms.
The textiles are depicted in exquisite detail, expertly reproducing contemporary fashionable textiles such as damasks, and in particular cloth of gold with bold, swirling large-scale patterns typical of the Renaissance. The armour, dress and headwear is a strange combination of contemporary, exotic foreign (hats of Hungarian and Turkish origin) and archaic classical, all very typical for the late Medieval period when depicting Classical scenes - in particular the lionheaded shoulder armour and tabbed skirts.
Historical significance: The <i>War of Troy</i> tapestries consisted of eleven hangings each about 4.8 metres high and 9-10 metres long. They were inscribed with French verses explaining the scenes above and in Latin beneath; this double inscription is very unusual. The <i>War of Troy</i> series epitomizes the grandest large-scale Netherlandish tapestry production of the late 15th century, in both design (a dense, complex narrative style) and subject matter (a classical myth reinterpreted in terms of medieval romance). The series is also unique in that it is remarkably well documented; the merchant who owned the cartoons was Pasquier Grenier, and he supplied weavings of this design to several clients.
ecrm:P3_has_note
The tapestry was bought from the dealer Madame Duruy for £1,200, with recommendations from William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones as Art Referees.
Medallion near the top left-hand corner, containing a rayed sun with the letter 'S' encircled by the motto 'Plus quautre' in a form used by Charles VIII of France and Anne of Brittany (from 1495 he used the device of a flaming sword). This tapestry is the ninth in the series of eleven listed in the Amboise inventory of 1494, and Charles VIII paid for changes to the heraldic devices (to include his sun) which indicates that the set had previously belonged to someone else. The new emblem was expertly woven in to replace original arms.
The textiles are depicted in exquisite detail, expertly reproducing contemporary fashionable textiles such as damasks, and in particular cloth of gold with bold, swirling large-scale patterns typical of the Renaissance. The armour, dress and headwear is a strange combination of contemporary, exotic foreign (hats of Hungarian and Turkish origin) and archaic classical, all very typical for the late Medieval period when depicting Classical scenes - in particular the lionheaded shoulder armour and tabbed skirts.
Historical significance: The <i>War of Troy</i> tapestries consisted of eleven hangings each about 4.8 metres high and 9-10 metres long. They were inscribed with French verses explaining the scenes above and in Latin beneath; this double inscription is very unusual. The <i>War of Troy</i> series epitomizes the grandest large-scale Netherlandish tapestry production of the late 15th century, in both design (a dense, complex narrative style) and subject matter (a classical myth reinterpreted in terms of medieval romance). The series is also unique in that it is remarkably well documented; the merchant who owned the cartoons was Pasquier Grenier, and he supplied weavings of this design to several clients.