A Flemish Horsemanship Tapestry, Brussels, from the series The Riding School, late 17th century, workshop of Everard Leyniers, after designs by Jacob Jordaens

woven in wool and silk, with some highlights in metal-thread, depicting a Young Cavalier Executing the Levade under the supervision of De Pluvinel, set in a landscape setting, within a three-sided border, the top with martial trophies including armour, weaponry, standards, drums and a saddle, the sides flanked by facing satyr term figures holding the flower filled cornucopiae with pendant and scrolling bound stem, and with flowers and cornice upon their heads, the lower section with a putti climbing on the supporting sculptural corbel with rams mask, the lower edge, lacking border, with a brown selvedge, with Brussels town mark, B*B, and the weavers mark, E.LEYNIERS 

Everard Leyniers III (b.1597-d.1680, dean of the craft in 1635) and Hendrik Reydams I (d. 1669; member of the craft 1629, privilege in 1640, co-founder of Brusssels Tapissierspand in 1657 and dean of the craft in 1658), both from important Brussels weaving families, collaborated over the series of the Riding School, after designs by the Flemish artist Jacob Jordaens, (1593-1678), particularly well known for his involvement with tapestry designs and in particular for those of the 1640's on the subject of The Riding School. Horsemanship continued its historic importance in literary and visual arts. An Academy of Equitation was set up in Paris, patronised by King Henry IV, and overseen by De Pluvinel, whose lessons in dressage were published in Le Maneige Royal de Monsieur de Pluvinel (Paris, 1623). There were various movements which the rider and horse were to perfect, which were described and illustrated through prints after Crispin van de Passe the Younger (1593/94-1670). Tapestries representing formal dressage became a speciality of the Brussels workshops of Leyniers and Reydams, those of `small horses', and `large horses', and Jordaens worked closely with these workshops.Kristi Nelson, Jacob Jordaens, Design for Tapestry, Brepols, 1998, comprehensively discusses and illustrates the series.

A complete set from the series The Riding School, after Jordaens, woven by Leyniers, and Reydams, in wool and silk, are at Hlubokà Castle, (Czechoslovakia), all within an elaborate border, the top with a swagged border of fruit and central cabochon, the left border with a caraytid satyr and a naked child, on the right a female caryatid and a naked satyr, both similar to those of the present tapestry, and the lower border with armour and martial trophies. This set includes a very similar weaving of the subject of the Young Cavalier Executing the Levade under the supervision of De Pluvinel, woven by Reydams, with virtually identical composition and a riding master standing to the right, with his left hand resting on his waist, after Crispijn van de Pase in Pluvinel's Le Maneige Royal, The King Executing the Levade in Profile View, both discussed and illustrated in Nelson, Jacob Jordaens, Design for Tapestry, op.cit., pg.347, figs.50 & 51.

A surving complete set of the eight tapestries from the series, depicting the `large horses', again woven by Leyniers and Reydams, with wool, silk and incorporating metal thread, is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (XL/1-8), see also Exhibition catalogue, Tapisseries Bruxellois au siecle de Rubens, Brussels, 1977, pp.44-60, no.9-16. The borders of this series borders of the set do not include the use of carytid figure and putti.

For tapestries from the series offered at auction, Sotheby's, London, 18^th May 1984, lot 13, sold a different subject,  'La Capriole', woven by Everard Leyniers, with no onlooking figures, within an elaborate four-sided border, the top with a swagged border of fruit and central cabochon and the bottom border with martial trophies, the left border with a caraytid satyr and a naked child, on the right a female caryatid and a naked satyr, both similar to those of the present tapestry, and the lower border with armour and martial trophies (375 x 275) with Brussels factory mark and weaver's mark E. Leyniers.  This tapestry differs from other known examples of the subject in that the rider is bare-headed.

Another weaving of this subject, of wider dimensions (12ft. x 21ft.) and more detailed composition, including an additional seated figure of a woman with a putto on the left and Mercury leading a horse on the right was sold Sotheby's, London, 21st October 1960, lot 102. It was lacking a lower border, and the top border was a swag with pine-cones and a central cabochon, but the carytid and putti borders were part of the composition. This tapestry was most closely related to the tapestry of The Young Cavalier Executing the Capriole in the Presence of Mars (Cat.no.42.1H), in the Vienna Collection.