Ateliers de la Marche, Northern France, c. 267 x 362 cm, first third of the 16th century, good overall condition, coarse weave of silk and wool with some repairs, narrow outer borders replaced, lower main border no longer preserved, mounted on linen. The tapestry was professionally restored in 1950. The first carpet depicts Charlemagne, with armour and axe on his armoured battle horse. The imperial eagle with French lilies, the coat of arms in his left hand, identifies the hero as Charlemagne. A squire holding the horse by the reins, a lance carrier half hidden behind the horse, and his jester complete the scene. The figures stand on a flower-covered lawn with a blossoming tree. On the horizon in the upper right corner of the painting, a castle can dimly be made out. The upper banner contains an Old French text, which roughly translates as follows: “Who killed the powerful Pompey in a few days; he was emperor of Rome one hundred years before Jesus was born.”

Museum tapestries from the series “Nine Heroes”, used as a popular courtly theme as early as the fourteenth century, are being offered separately here. The nine heroes can be divided into three groups; Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabeus from the Old Testament; the pagan heroes: Hector, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar, as well as those belonging to the Christian faith: Charlemagne, King Arthur, and Godfrey of Bouillon. Given that these tapestries now only very rarely appear on the market or in auction houses, it is all the more remarkable that two of these strongly Gothic-inspired tapestries are being offered from one series at the same time. Only four similar examples have been published in the specialist literature.

Lit.:
Heinrich Göbel, Wandppiche, Die Romanischen Länder, part II, vol. II, ill. 261 and 262; Les Tapisseries d’Aubusson et de Felletin, 1457–1791, p. 20; Les belles heures de la tapisserie. Tapisserie, Felletin.

We are grateful to Prof. Sylvia Huot for translating the inscription.