A Flemish Renaissance Tapestry, `David Receives Bathsheba and the Departure of Uriah', from The Story of David, Brussels workshop, possibly after Jan van Roome (fl. 1498-1521) first quarter 16th century, circa 1515-1525

woven in silk and wool, with narrative groups of figures in contemporary fashion, representing personages from The Story of David, including King David, Bathsheba and Uriah (Samuel 2, 11-12), with repeat unidentified lettering incorporated within the hem of a robe, and initials `M.A.' on the red collar of the greyhound, within a four-sided  with alternating sections of floral and fruiting grape vine trails against a dark blue ground, within narrow golden bands: the reverse with a section from the original lining bearing the printed stamp of the Castro-Serna family; designs in manner of Jan van Roome, unidentified cartoonist and weaver



Without town or weaver's marks. It was only as a result of the ordinance of 16th May 1528, that each tapestry larger tan three ells was required to have the Brussels town mark and the weaver's mark, or reference to whoever had commissioned the tapestry.  Then in 1546 with the Imperial Edict of 1544, other weaving centres were obliged to abide to this legislation.

Collection of Don Gonzalo Maria de Ulloa y Ortega-Montañés (1833-1882) 9^th Count of Adanero
By inheritance to his brother, the Marquis of Castro-Serna, Madrid
By descent to the Viscount of Roda, Madrid, circa 1930
By descent private collection, Madrid

 

Zaragoza, Los Tapices de Zaragoza, 1928
Barcelona, El Arte en España, Barcelona International Exhibition, 1929
Ghent, Tapisseries Flamandes d'Espagne, Musée de Beaux Arts, 1959

Galindo, P. & Abizanda Broto, M, Los Tapices de Zaragoza, Exhibition catalogue, 1928, No.45
VA. Tapisseries Flamandes d'Espagne, Exhibition catalogue, Ghent, 1959, No.7, pg.28
VA. Los tapices de La Seo. Caja de Ahorros de la Inmaculada de Aragón, Zaragoza, 1985, pp.199-202
Herrero Carretero, C, Tapices de Isabel la Católica. Origen de la colección real española, Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage), Madrid, 2004, pp.53-58 and 94-99
Herrero Carretero, C, Los Tapices y Ornamentos. La Catedral Primada de Toledo Dieciocho siglos de Historia. Promecal, Burgos, 2010, pp.382-394

Related Literature

Bennett, Anna, Five Centuries of Tapestry, The Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, 1992, Cat.nos.11-15, pp. 54-77, from series The Redemption of Man, Brussels, 1510-1515, noting that the series could have been designed in a workshop and therefore a collaboration, rather than being the personal style of one man 

Bennett, Anna, Five Centuries of Tapestry, The Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, 1992, Cat.no.21, pp. 96-98, A Flemish court scene, Brussels, circa 1520, with a design of a stylistic group attributed to Brussels artists circa 1510-1520, including Jan van Roome and Leonard Knoest. This tapestry showing influences of celebrated earlier tapestries, Mestra's Petition, from The Story of Mestra (Palais Royal, Brussels), and Bathsheba at the Fountain, from The Story of David (Hôtel de Ville, Brussels)

Campbell, Thomas, Tapestry in the Renaissance, Art and Magnificence, Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition, March-June 2002, Yale University Press 2002, Netherlandish production and the rise of Brussels, 1480-1515, Cat.nos.12-17, pp.131-185, and discussion of Jan van Roome, pp.137-138, fig.60, The Miraculous communion of Herkinbald

Campbell, Thomas, Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty: Tapestries at the Tudor Court, Yale University Press, 2007, Chp.6, pp.103-141, Henry VIII, Purchases and Use of Tapestries, pp.120-121, figs.6.15-6.17, and Chp.10, pp.177-198, Royal Patronage in the late 1520's, Style and Iconography, pp.177-187, for discussion of Brussels tapestries of The Story of David, in relation to the set of ten in Château d'Ecouen, and relevance of the theme of King David tapestries

Cavallo, Adolph, Medieval Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993, Stylistic Development of Tapestry Design in France and the Southern Netherlands, 1375-1525, pp.45-56, pg.54, fig.70, and Tapestry Catalogue No.46, pg.545-551, Perseus rescues Andromeda, from The Story of Perseus, South Netherlands, 1515-1525, (approx. 335 by 318cm.), possibly after designs by Jan van Roome in association with Philip van Orley

Cavallo, Adolph, Medieval Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993, Cat.no.27, pp.377-412, Composite tapestry of Christ the Judge on the Throne of Majesty and other subjects, circa 1500-1510, Cat.No.27, pp.377-412, with woven initials (N, E, R; Reoon consider to be Roome) and discussion of the subject of the difficulties in attributions of designs, in relation to the Herkinbald tapestry, after designs by Jan van Roome

Cavallo, Adolph, Medieval Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993, Cat.no.29, pp.421-445, Two episodes from The Story of the Redemption of Man, circa 1500-1520, and others of the same subject based on the same designs, in the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, and Hampton Court Palace, Middlesex

Cavallo, Adolph, Tapestries of Europe and Colonial Peru in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1967, Vol. I text, Vol. II plates., Cat.no.20, pp.81-83, pl.20-20c, Christ before Pilate and Herod, late fifteenth century, pre 1505, designer and weaver not known; Göbel attributed to Jan van Roome and weaver Pierre van Aelst due to the presence of their signatures in a closely related series of tapestries preserved at the Cathedral of Angers, not proven

Cavallo, Adolph, Tapestries of Europe and Colonial Peru in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1967, Vol. I text, Vol. II plates, Cat.no.23, pp.89-91, pl.32-23a, Two Miracles of Saint Claude now identified  as the Justice of Trajan, first quarter sixteenth century, designer and weaver not known; Göbel attributed to Philipp van Orley in collaboration with Jan van Roome

Checa, Fernando, Tapisseries Flamandes, Pour les Duc de Bourgogne, l'Empereur Charles Quint et le Roi Philippe II, Brussels, 2009, Chp.I, l'Epoque des Rois Catholiques et de Marguerite d'Autriche (1480-1530), pp.24-101

Crick Kuntziger, Marthe, Musée Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire de Bruxelles - Catalogue des Tapisseries, circa 1954, Cat.no.12, pp.27-28, pl.16, La Légend d'Herkenbald, Cat.no.15, pl.20-21, La Légend of Notre-Dame du Sablon¸ Brussels, circa 1516-1518, and Cat.no.13, pl.17, L'invention de la Sainte Croix

Delmarcel, Guy, de Reyniès, Nicole & Hefford, Wendy, The Toms Collection Tapestries– 16^th to 19^th centuries, Ed. Giselle Eberhard Cotton, Foundation Toms Pauli, Lausanne, Verlag Niggli AG, Zurich, 2010, Chp. I: The Flemish Tapestries, Guy Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestries, Cat.nos.1-53, pp.26-27, November/December or Winter, from the series Twelve Ages of Man, circa 1525, unidentified workshop, designer and cartoonist

Delmarcel, Guy, Flemish Tapestries, London, 1999, Chapter II, The Renaissance, pp.65-207, The dawn of the Renaissance in Flemish Tapestry, pp.65-85, pg.66, pl. Herkenbald's Miraculous Communion (Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels), pg.72, pl. The Last Supper, dated 1516 (Museo d'arte sacra, Camaiore), pg.79, pl.pp.80-81, David and Bathsheba: David summons Bathsheba to his palace, circa 1510-1516, (Musée National de la Renaissance, Ecouen)

Delmarcel, Guy, and contributors, Van Tichelen, Isabelle, Volckaert, An, and Maes, Yvan, Golden Weavings Flemish Tapestries of the Spanish Crown, Exhibition at Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (March-April 1993), Royal Manufacturers of Tapestry Gaspard De Wit, Malines (May – June 1993) and the Stichting De Nieuwe Kerk in co-operation with the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (July – August 1993), Malines 1993, Cat.no.3.David receives Bathsheba in his palace, pp.32-39, which shows similar conception of groupings and balcony figures to the present tapestry, with initials De Moer (which probably relate to subject matter rather than designer, cartoonist or weaver) and the subject is indentified within the banderole in the top border (Palacio Real, Madrid).

Delmarcel, Guy and de Roo, René, Tapisseries Bruxelloises de la pré-Renaissance, Exposition 22nd Janvier – 7th Mars 1976, Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels, Cat.No.1-10, pp.25-51 Histoire de David et Bethsabée, circa 1515-1525, important set of ten tapestries incorporating metal thread, attributed to Jan van Roome and collaborators, and attributed to workshop of Pierre d'Enghien and Pierre Van Aelst in collaboration with Pierre de Pannemaker, (Musée National de la Renaissance, Ecouen), and Cat.No.11, pp.52-55, Panel from Histoire de David et Bethsabée, first quarter 16th Century, no metal threads, attributed to designs after Jan van Roome, and workshop of M.de.Moer (signed De Moer within clothing in design), Cat.no.19, La Légend d'Herkenbald, circa 1513, (Museés Royaux d'art de d'Histoire, Brussels), Cat.no.42, pp.141-143, Project pour un vitrail généalogique, circa 1516-1521 (Archevêché, Malines)

Dhanens, Elisabeth, Jan van Roome alias van Brussel, schilder, Gentse Bijdragen tot de Kunstgeschiedenis, 1945-46, pp.41-146

Dhanens, Elisabeth, l'Importance du peintre Jean van Roome, dit de Bruxelles, Exhibition Catalogue, Delmarcel, Guy and de Roo, René, Tapisseries Bruxelloises de la pré-Renaissance, Exposition 22nd Janvier – 7th Mars 1976, Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels, pp.231-241 

Göbel, Heinrich, Die Wandteppiche, 1923-1934, Part I, Vol.i, pg.411, attribution of tapestry of Perseus rescues Andromeda, from The Story of Perseus, and two related hangings, formerly in the Raoul Heibronner Collection, to Jan Van Roome, working in association with Philip van Orley, illustrated Göbel, 1923, Part I, Vol.ii, pl.267-268

Hartkamp-Jonxis, Ebeltje and Smith, Hillie European Tapestries in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2004, pp.58-69, Cat.nos.16-17, pp.62-68, A small tapestry fragment and tapestry from The Triumphs of Petrarch, Southern Netherlands, circa 1510-1525

Junquera de Vega, Paulina, Herrero Carretero, Concha, Catàlogo de Tapices del Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 1986, Vol. I, Siglio XVI, Serie 3, Historia de David y Betsabe, pp.9-12, Paño I-III, Three tapestries from a series woven, of smaller dimension, the same border type, albeit with narrative banderoles in the border, first quarter of 16th century, with initials which have been associated with the weaver M. Moer. This set's compositions  were used for the weaving of a set for Henry VIII, with the addition of further figures, to increase the width of the tapestries, such as a weaving of David and Bathesheba at the fountain, (Hôtel de Ville, Brussels). A tapestry composition which shares the balance and structure achieved in the weaving of the present panel (see Delmarcel and Roo, 1976, cat.no. 11.,pp.52-55).

Rorimer, James, J, Glorification of Charles VIII, Tapestry designed by Jan van Roome, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bulletin, June 1954, pp.281-299, (The Metropolitan Museum of Art), commissioned by Maximilian in honour of Charles VIII, circa 1490

Steppe, Jan-Karel, Inscriptions décoratives contenant des signatures de des mention du lieu d'origine sur des tapisseries bruxelloises de la fin du XVe et du début du XVIe siècle, Exhibition Catalogue, Delmarcel, Guy and de Roo, René, Tapisseries Bruxelloises de la pré-Renaissance, Exposition 22nd Janvier – 7th Mars 1976, Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels, pp.193-230

G.F. Wingfield Digby, The Tapestry Collection – Medieval and Renaissance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1980, pp.42-43, Cat.nos.29-31, pl.50-51, for two tapestries from The Story of Esther, from the same period, with similarities in composition, and the same border, which are comparable with three pieces dating from 1470, (La Seo Cathedral, Zaragoza) a gift from by Ferdinand the Catholic to his son, Don Alphonso of Aragon who gave them to the Archbishop of Zaragoza

G.F. Wingfield Digby, The Tapestry Collection – Medieval and Renaissance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1980, Cat.no.22, pp.36-37, The Triumph of Chastity over Love, Cat.no.23, pp.38-39, The Triumph of Death over Love, and Cat.no.24, pp.40-41, The Triumph of Fame, all from The Triumphs of Petrarch, Southern Netherlands, circa 1520, possibly woven by circle of Van Orley

The colours in reality are crisper and richer in reality and not as yellow in tone, as in the catalogue photographs. The reds are not as orange and the blues are not as green. For example the ground of the floral border is navy blue. This tapestry has been professionally cleaned, conserved and lined, and is in very good stable condition. The tapestry is woven predominantly in wool, with some silk highlights. Commensurate with age, some of the silk areas, which are the light highlight areas, have been restored or conserved in areas. Some of the professional consolidated repairs are 19th century and others are more recently professionally conserved areas. There are some consolidated areas, and some old rewoven areas, for example to the drapery highlight folds in the robes in places, highlights of clothing (tunic of boy with hound lower right corner) and to the edging of the architectural details, such as the cornice of the domed canopy, and to some of light areas of foliage in trees and plants in foreground. There are some repairs to the areas of brown, which have oxidised, commensurate with mordants used in the dyes. For example the darker shading and highlight edging in places, which includes outline of some of hands, faces and accessories. There are some small areas of circular/and shaped repairs in a light terracotta colour in areas. For example an area to the hair and cheek of standing figures of Bathsheba, in the top right corner. There is an area of blue/grey repair to lower edge of robe of figure in lower left corner. There are small repairs in other colours in areas, for example pink to lips of some of figures, and to some of eyes. There are repairs to the four corners of the narrow gold and green banded outer borders and the upper blue selvedge is later. The tapestry has a new lining. It is recommended that Velcro is applied across the top for hanging purposes in the future. The reverse lining is applied with section from original lining printed with the Castroserna family mark, and another piece bearing ink number 35. This tapestry has a balanced composition and balanced variety of colour overall, and a very decorative and appropriate border. There are very evocative and wonderful details, very finely woven, across the tapestry. The faces are technically highly skilled and finely woven. The composition is richly detailed, for example to the clothing and accessories of the figures across the tapestry.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The provenance of the tapestry is known from the mid 19^th century onwards. The reverse of the tapestry retains a section of original lining with the original ink printed stamp of the Marquis of Castro. A family whose collection included fabrics of extraordinary quality, such as the pontifical canopy, a tapestry panel depicting The Vision of Ezekiel, commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1520, woven in the Brussels workshop of Pierre van Aelst (1450-1533), from cartoons by Rafael and Tomasso Vincidor (now in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Madrid).  It was acquired in around 1830 for the Castro-Serna Collection, with another tapestry from the same suite (now in The Vatican, Rome). Interestingly another object with a prior Castro-Serna provenance, a gilt-bronze mounted Sèvres fond violet porcelain vase, Louis XVI, circa 1768, was sold Sotheby's, London, Treasures: Princely Taste, 6^th July 2011, lot 1.

Margaret of Austria and Tapestry weaving in Brussels in the Sixteenth Century

At the transition of the 15th/16th century, and a move into the Renaissance, the two different styles coexisted in harmony in using the pictorial tradition, the graphic developments and the influences of the Italian fifteenth century and later. Italian Raphael school designs revolutionised high quality tapestry production, but they were not used in isolation, but taken up by Brussels designers and combined with traditional Netherlandish devices, such as multiple narratives, extensive patterning and attention to landscapes.

In Flanders this period coincides with the Regency of Margaret of Austria (b.1480, d.1530) as her father Emperor Maximilian named her governor of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1507-1515, and 1517-1530) as guardian of her young nephew Charles (the future Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor). Margaret was a great patron of the arts, with painters in her Mechelen based court, and a library which included the famous illuminated manuscripts of Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry.  Margaret exercised important influence over the development of the Netherlandish tapestry industry during a crucial phase in its transition.  She was a conscientious guardian to her inherited historic tapestry collection and added to it, with Brussels benefitting from particular attention. Workshops recorded to have produced tapestries for Margaret of Austria, included those of the Brussels weaver Pieter de Pannemaker between 1518-1522, and Pieter van Aelst (whose name has been found woven within tapestry panels), and the court painter Bernard van Orley is documented to have been involved in the designs. The weaver's considered for the recorded Roome series, The Story of David and Bathsheba (Château d'Ecouen), are Pierre d'Enghien and Pierre Van Aelst in collaboration with Pierre de Pannemaker.

Moralising and didactic allegorical series were woven in Brussels, including The Twelve Ages of Man, circa 1515 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) which included a portrait of Margaret within the figural groupings. Another portrait of Margaret appears in a tapestry depicting The Legend of Notre-Dame du Sablon¸woven in Brussels, circa 1516-1518 (Musée Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire de Bruxelles). Certain details are reminiscent of the ceremonial proceedings at the court of the Dukes of Burgundy, whereby the initials M. A. on the collar of a greyhound in the lower right corner, could allude to the initials of Margaret of Austria /Maison d'Autriche, which also appear on the trappings on the horses in a panel from the series of The Story of David and Bathsheba at the Château d'Ecouen.

The Flemish style in the tapestries of the early 16th century is still dominant, and compositions show groups of contemplative figures, dressed in elaborate robes and accessories. Series of large and small tapestries were produced in Brussels. The Brussels weaving (approx. 327 by 364cm) of the Justice of Trajan (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), previously attributed to Philipp van Orley in collaboration with Jan van Roome by Göbel, was taken from a Medieval source of a moralising poem. Interestingly it has a similar compositional balance to the present tapestry, in addition to similar figural types, and inclusion of a grey hound with collar in the foreground, and a similar border, albeit on a lighter ground. Without inscriptions and attributes woven within the tapestries, the subjects are not always easily identified. For example, incorporated in this tapestry there are letters within the lower band of the robe of a turbaned figure in the lower right corner (repeated in the top right corner), and on a the belt of the young man holding the urn, far centre right of the composition, which need further research.

Bernard van Orley's designs were inspired by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) who on spending time in 1520-1528 in the Low Countries, left many sets of his prints behind as gifts. For an example of this influence combined with a new sense of space there is a tapestry panel of the Last Supper (Museo d'arte Sacra, Camaiore) from the series of The Passion, documented in 1520 as woven in Brussels by Pieter de Pannemaker for Margaret of Austria. It is within a virtually identical border style and with inclusion of a textile baldacchino of voided velvet.

Jan van Roome and collaborators

A tapestry which is considered to be a reference for this new style is the Miraculous Communion of Herkinbald, Brussels, workshop of Lyon (de Smedt), after designs by Jan van Roome, circa 1513, (Museés Royaux d'art de d'Histoire, Brussels).  It was commissioned by the Fraternity of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Peter's Church in Louvain, and in 1513, Rhine guilders were paid to `master Jan van Brussel' for the petit patrón, `Philip the painter' for the full-size cartoon interpretation, and `Lyon, the tapestry worker in Brussels' for the weaving.

Jan van Roome, was a Flemish painter who worked mainly drawing models for various art forms, including retables, sculptures and stained glass windows (for window drawing see E. Dhanens, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, April 1959, 215-224), and produced plans for the enclosure around the Baliënhof in front of the Ducal Place in Brussels. Van Roome designed the windows, choir-stalls, and statues, in Flamboyant Gothic style, for Margaret's funerary church in Brou, which was completed in 1532.

The Story of David

Along with tapestry series of the subject depicting the Passion of Christ, and The Story of Esther, the Biblical Story of David and Bathsheba was very popular and King David served as an influential figure for the Renaissance Prince, as King David was anointed by the prophet Samuel, had the gift of prophecy and repented after he has sinned, was warrior, ruler and statesman. He was important in Christian art through the Book of Matthew, for not being a prefiguration of Christ, but being a direct ancestor.  The subject of The Story of David was one of the most popular series woven in Brussels in the first half 16^th century, having been a subject used from the 14th century. Other comparable tapestries are a group in the Royal Collection, Madrid, originally owned by King Manuel I of Portugal (recorded in 1505), another set for King Henry VIII of England, and another hung in Toledo Cathedral by Cardinal Quiroga in 1580, of which all that remains today is the first panel, the Entry of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.

An important and comprehensive Renaissance series of ten tapestries, From the Story of David, has been attributed to Jan van Roome and collaborators, possibly woven through collaboration of Brussels weavers, including Pierre d'Enhien and Pierre van Aelst and Pierre de Pannemaker. The attribution to Jan van Roome designs is as a result of the inclusion of the balustrade from the Baliënhof designs being used in the tapestry panel entitled  David summons Bathsheba to his palace, circa 1510-1516 (Musée National de la Renaissance, Ecouen). It has similar compositional motifs albeit smaller figures in reliefs across the foreground and background, within a virtually identical border to the present panel. The attributed identical drawing (40 by 64.8cm) used for this tapestry panel, without the border design, is in the Corcorcan Gallery of Art, Washington (Acc.No.26.192 – W.A.Clarke Collection).

The composition of the panel offered shows direct similarities to a tapestry, from the Story of David and Bathsheba, described as David receives Bathsheba and the departure of Uriah, (albeit not the same overall composition), woven in silk and wool, recorded as after designs by Jan van Roome (act. 1498-1521), from La Seo Cathedral in Zaragoza (Fig. 1). The figural groups which are the same are the standing figures of David and Bathsheba in the left corner foreground of the present tapestry and the standing figures between them, and the building has a similar balcony and two figures looking outward, and the prow of the ship in the background is similar.

There are three tapestries from The Story of David, in the Spanish Royal Collection, including a panel depicting David receives Bathsheba in his palace, Brussels, with metal-threads, which shows similar conception of groupings and balcony figures to the present tapestry, and includes the initials De Moer (which probably relate to subject matter rather than designer, cartoonist or weaver) and the subject is identified within the banderole in the top border (Palacio Real, Madrid).

Attributions

Based on the documentary evidence that The Miraculous communion of Herkinbald which is considered to have been designed by van Roome, many pre-Renaissance style tapestries have been attributed to van Roome, although the designs reflect largely the cartoons of `Master Philip', with cartoonists working in a generic manner that characterised the work of many Brussels designs at this time

The transitional – Pre-Renaissance period in the tapestry industry designed compositions that used a large number of figures in relief across the tapestry, set within open landscape and architectural settings, with emphasis on the costume, visual richness of details and there was a somewhat limited sense of movement and creation of illusion in subtle rhetoric gestures. It was a formula that suited the sophistication of requirements, the scale and nature of the medium.  Crowding figures allowed cartoonists to adapt and re-use figures which was an advantage to meet the fashion and demands of the time, and the costs of production, with interpretations varying in the different qualities of the series woven. It was a formula used amongst the cartoonists and weavers, and resulted in the style continuing during the first two decades of the 16^th century.  The crowding of figures allowed for adaption of figures from one tapestry design to the other and one subject to another, with all dressed in contemporary fashion, whether mythological, allegorical, Biblical, classical or historical subjects.

Very little is known of the artists and cartoonist involved in the production.  With the lack of documentary evidence, clear names either for the subject, the patron, or for those involved in the production, factors for consideration  are the varied design influences, the involvement of painters as designer, interpretations by cartoonists and then weaver's, and often the collaboration of the artists within the towns and workshops. These factors along with the adaption of design elements, especially from the well known series, results in treating undocumented attributions with caution.

There are works by the recorded designers and cartoonists which have not resulted in attributions of specific tapestry series, due to the sharing of the aforementioned formal motifs by the industry. An example of an exception is a tapestry by Lenaart Knoest the elder (fl.1501-1517), who produced numerous cartoons, and can be firmly attributed to the production of one tapestry of The Discovery of the True Cross (Musée Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire de Bruxelles), as his name was woven within the design.  Another designer considered at this time is Colyn de Coter (ca.1455-1525), although his numerous paintings and designs particularly for figures and anatomy which appear in tapestries, are without documentary evidence, and therefore it would be unwise to attribute him to the cartoons. Jan van Roome was an important and influential designer during the first twenty years of the 16^th century. Although this tapestry cannot be attributed with certainty to a designer, cartoonist or workshop, this does not detract from the importance of this tapestry, it's fine weave, balanced composition and colouring and it's survival.

Auction Comparables, (with similar compositional balance and the same narrow floral border on blue ground)

The Story of Oedipus, An important late Gothic mythological narrative tapestry, circa 1500-1512, (approx. 340 by 405cm), in the manner of Jan van Roome, Sotheby's, London, 11^th July 2001, lot 30

A late Gothic tapestry, South Netherlands, probably Brussels, circa 1525, (approx. 345 by 270cm) within the same narrow floral border on blue ground, Sotheby's, London, 8^th December 1995, lot 23, From the Collection of Baroness Gabrielle Bentinck-Thyssen, perhaps from workshop of Pieter van Aelst, after a follower of Jan van Roome

Two late Gothic tapestries, from The Story of Perseus, Brussels, perhaps from workshop of Gabriel van der Tommen, circa 1525, (approx. 358 by 415cm, and 350 by 397cm), Sotheby's, London, 26^th October 1993, lots 2 and 3, From the Raoul Heibronner Collection, Sold Paris 1921

A Gothic tapestry of a court scene, possibly Solomon and Queen of Sheba, Brussels, circa 1520, (approx. 315 by 310cm), Sotheby's, London, 28^th September 1987, lot 87

The Marriage of Oedipus, A Gothic tapestry,  circa 1510, (approx. 335 by 411cm), Sotheby's, London, 11th December 1970, lot 3