‘Battle Scene’, A Flemish Historical Tapestry, Brussels, from The Story of Theodosius the Younger, workshop of Jean Le Clerc circa 1660

Most probably acquired by Sir John Shaw (circa 1615 - 1680 – Customs officer and Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis) circa 1663, for Eltham Lodge, Kent;

The Queen's Bedchamber, Queen's House, Greenwich;

The Property of The Crown Estate, Christie's, London, 10th November 2005, lot 193 (set of six).

Bold, J, Greenwich: An Architectural History of the Royal Hospital for Seamen and the Queen’s House, London and New Haven, 2000, pg.72, colour illustration showing the tapestries of ‘Theodosius giving the apple to Eudocia’, and ‘Eudocia passing the apple to Paulinus’, in situ in the Queen’s Bedchamber, flanking the canopied throne;

Brosens, Koenraad, comprehensively analyses this rare set of tapestries, in `The Story of Theodosius the Younger: a rediscovered tapestry set by Jacob Jordaens and his studio’, by Koenraad Brosens (Research Foundation-Flanders, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven), Burlington Magazine, vol. 199, June 2007, pages 376-382;

Duverger, Jozef, Jaarboek Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België 27 (1965), pg.186. Duverger mentioned the set in 1965 in a lecture held at the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, however only one page of summary of the paper was published;

Duverger, Jozef, `Een reeks tapijten met de geschiedenis van Theodosius en de Apple uit de omgeving van Jacob Jordaens’, J.Bruyn, et al., eds, Album Amicorum J.G. Van Gelder, The Hague, 1973, pp.83-87. Duverger’s later short articles on the series referred to the Eltham Lodge set, then on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Bristol City Museum. Five of the series were illustrated, along with a document showing that in 1665 a dealer commissioned a Theodosius set from the weavers Eggermans and Le Clerc, however this set was recorded with metal-threads which this series does not have, and therefore although the series is elusive there are indications that there were several series executed;

Kristi Nelson, Jacob Jordaens, Design for Tapestry, Brepols, 1998, for discussion of the life and works of this famous artist and tapestry designer, albeit without mention of the elusive Theodosius series;

Menćik, F,’ Dokumente zur Geschichte der Kaiserlichen Tapezereisammlung, aus dem gräfl. Harrachschen Archive’, Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses 30 (1911-12), pg.xxxvii, notes that in 1673 and edition of `l’historia di Theodosio in 8 pezze’ was listed among tapestry sets `di fabrica di Brusseles’ which were on the Antwerp and Brussels market. The Eltham set could therefore have had extra panels to compliment the series, perhaps even entre-fenêtres from the existing designs.

Eltham Lodge

Eltham was initially a moated manor house within extensive parkland, and was acquired by the future Edward II in 1305, who subsequently passed it on to his Queen, Isabella. Architectural changes were undertaken under Edward IV, most notably the addition of the Great Hall in the 1470’s, which is still in existence today. Henry VIII was the last monarch to spend substantial investments and time at Eltham until at the end of the 16th century the Palace was replaced by Greenwich Palace, and neglected. It is in the mid 17th century that the then owner, Sir John Shaw, built Eltham Lodge and it is thought that the present tapestries were purchased by him for this property.

The Life of Flavius Theodosius II (401-540AD)

The tapestries illustrates the events of The Life of Flavius Theodosius II (401-540AD) including the story of Theodosius and the apple, as recorded in many Byzantine chronicles, including the Chronographia, by John Malalas (c.490-c.570 AD) and the Epitome ton istorion, by John Zonares (d.after 1159), and the moralising story was known through contemporary 17th century translations and adaptations, such as those of the Flemish Humanist Justus Lipsius (1547-1606) in Monita et Exempla Politica (1605), which was translated into French and Dutch, and by Jacob Cats (1577-1660) in 1622 in Dutch. Poems, novella and plays emerged of the story, and a famous book of its day was La Cour Sainte, by Nicholas Caussin (1583-1651) published in Paris in 1624, and in English in 1626, which used the moralising story of Theodosius. Interestingly Caussin became the source material for an English play The Emperor of the East (1632), by Philip Massinger (1583-1640). The iconography of the tapestries in the series has a mix of figural arrangements which relate to settings used for the staging of the Massinger play, and to the scenes set in the descriptions in the 17th century French and Dutch translations by Lipsius and Cats.

The tapestries illustrate episodes from The Life of Theodosius II, the son of Emperor Arcadius and Empress Aelia Eudoxia in Constantinople, who succeeded his father at the age of seven, and was consul under the moral tutelage of his sister Pulcheria. On the death in 414 AD of the powerful politician, Praetorian Prefect Anthemius, it was Pulcheria that dominated the young Emperor, making herself Augusta the same year. She maintained her moral authority to oversee the upbringing and education of the young Emperor. The first panel shows the Emperor signing a petition, and administrative duty for which he was known through chronicles to have treated with a nonchalance and disregard, which were not qualities to be exemplified. To demonstrate that care should be taken, Pulcheria has a mock petition presented which states the Theodosius consigns his wife to Pulcheria. The proceeding panels tells of the story of the remarkably beautiful apple. Emperor Theodosius on route with a hunting party is given the apple by a poor man. The Emperor then sends the apple to his wife Eudocia Augusta, revealed in the third panel, and in the fourth panel Eudocia Augusta passes it to Paulinus the Master of Offices, a young courtier favoured by the Emperor and his wife. This fourth panel is not offered in this auction and was last on the market at Sotheby’s, London, 13 April 2013, lot 335. Paulinus not aware that the Emperor had sent it to the Empress, sends it on the Emperor Theodosius. The Emperor recognises it and conceals it. On calling Eudocia Augusta, the Emperor questioned her asking where the apple was that he sent her, and she swears an oath of the truth on his salvation, that she ate it, as not to disappoint her husband with the truth. The Emperor suspecting that the Empress was enamoured with Paulinus and had sent him the apple, reveals that he now has it. The tragic outcome of the story is that Emperor Theodosius put Paulinus to death and banishes his grieving wife. It is not clear exactly how the last tapestry panel of the battle scene relates to the tale but could allude to the end of the story. Koenraad Brosens in his analysis of this series has pointed out that although the 17th century accounts reviewed Theodosius in a sympathetic way this story provided a warning against thoughtless and impulsive decisions and actions.

The tapestries were woven in the 17th century by two renowned Brussels workshops, that of Jan Le Clerc and Daniel II Eggermans, and were commissioned by Jacob Jordaens. They are considered to be a late set by Jordaens, as stylistically they resemble the compositional style of his later series such as ‘The Story of Charlemagne’, circa 1650 and ‘Famous women of Antiquity’, circa 1660.

The consideration that this famous painter and tapestry designer Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678) was involved in this series, is substantiated by an unpublished document of 1662 (Brussels, Stadsarchief, Register de Tresorije, Vol.1298, fols.456r-458r) which reveals that designs (cartoons) for the series were commissioned by Jordaens from Daniel Eggermans the Younger between 1654 and 1662, ‘dat jij tsedert den jaere 1654…. Doen schilderen diversche patroonen, soo door Jordaens beldtpatroonen van Theodosius’ (after 1654). For comprehensive and illuminating analysis of this rare set of tapestries, see Brosens, Koenraad, in `The Story of Theodosius the Younger: a rediscovered tapestry set by Jacob Jordaens and his studio’, (Research Foundation-Flanders, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven), Burlington Magazine, vol. 199, June 2007, pages 376-382.