. . . "In Republican France in the early 19th century this subject was chosen for weaving at the Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory because of its high moral message. Paetus, a Roman imprisoned for leading an unsuccessful rebellion against the Emperor Claudius, was shown how to die with honour by his wife, Arria, who stabbed herself. \n\nThe subject was taken from a painting of 1785 by Fran\u00E7ois-Andr\u00E9 Vincent (1746-1816). It was woven at the Gobelins in Paris some time between 1801 and 1809, with the border added in 1811-1812. Two tapestries were made of the subject. One was given by the French Emperor Napoleon I to his brother, Jerome, King of Westphalia, whose son gave the tapestry to the South Kensington Museum, as the Victoria & Albert Museum was then called."@en .