ENSEMBLE DE QUATRE IMPORTANTES TAPISSERIES SUR LE THEME DES BACCHANALES

IMPORTANT SET OF FOUR TAPESTRIES OF THE SERIES 'BACCHANALIA' PROBABLY WOVEN FOR CARDINAL MAZARIN, OFFERED AS DIPLOMATIC GIFT ON REQUEST OF LOUIS XIV TO DON LUIS DE HARO, MARQUIS DE CARPIO, FIRST MINISTER OF THE KING OF SPAIN, FOR THE CONCLUSION OF THE TREATY OF THE PYRENEES. PROBABLY MANUFACTURE DU LOUVRE, WORKSHOP OF PIERRE AND JEAN LEFEVRE, CIRCA 1648-1659

Footnotes

Provenance:
Probably commissioned by Cardinal Mazarin, as directed by Louis XIV as a diplomatic gift (1648-1659);
Don Luis de Haro, Marquis de Carpio, (1598-1661) First Minister of the King of Spain;
Private European Collection and thence by descent

We would like to thank Professor Guy Delmarcel, Professeur emerite en Histoire de l'Art, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Membre de l'Academie royale des Sciences de Belgique for his time and help with this important set of tapestry panels.

The present lot represents an intriguing and potentially significant discovery. Thought to pre-date the famous Gobelins manufactory these tapestries were most probably woven in the Manufactures du Louvre at the Atelier de Pierre et Jean Lefèvre between 1648 and 1659. The inclusion of metal threads suggests a high-status set. Although the attribution of tapestries is seldom simple, the absence of City 'hallmarks' or weavers' marks on the present lot poses a particular challenge. There is enough documentary evidence in this case, however, not only to attribute them with some certainty to a maker but also to shed light on their important provenance, which demonstrates the importance of art in European diplomacy in the 17th century.

THE BACCHANALIA SET OF FRANCOIS I:

The composition of these panels is based on a suite of seven 'Bacchanalia' tapestries woven in gold and silver thread in Brussels between 1530-1535. This set was recorded in 1542 in the inventory of King Francois I of France (1494-1547) where they were called 'Histoire à Plaisirs' (the 'Story of the Pleasures'). They were described again in more detail in the inventories of Louis XIV (1638-1715) in 1716:

'une tenture de tapisserie toute de soie rehaussée d'or ,dessein de Julles Romain, fabrique de Bruxelles, représentant des Baccanales, dans une bordure d'architecture à pilastres de grisaille sur fonds marbré, la tenture en sept pièces , contenant vingt-une aune de cours sur trois aunes un tiers de hault.....21 aunes sur 3 aunes 1/3'

This describes the tapestries all woven in silk and enhanced with gold, designed by Giulio Romano (1499-1546) and made in a factory in Brussels, representing the Bacchanales in an architectural border with pilasters and a marbled background, in seven pieces, measuring 21 aunes by 3 aunes 1/3.

Like many others, these tapestries (the set of Francois I) were burned in June 1797 with a view to extracting the precious metal. This method did not work, and countless treasures were lost as a result. The size is remarkable: the tapestries measured 400cm – what would now be referred to as monumental – while the present lot is considerably smaller.

THE SET OF CARDINAL MAZARIN:

Cardinal Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino was born in 1602 in Pescina, Italy. Over the course of his career, he served as chief minister to Kings Louis XIII and XIV of France. After starting as a Papal diplomat, Mazarin moved to Paris in 1640, where he offered his diplomatic services to Cardinal Richelieu. Upon the death of Richelieu, Mazarin became the first minister of Louis XIII in 1643. After twenty years of devoted service and numerous diplomatic successes, such as the Peace of Westphalia, the Treaty of the Pyrenees, and the marriage of Louis XIV with Maria Theresa of Spain, Mazarin died in 1661. As well as being an accomplished diplomat, Mazarin was an important patron of the arts.

Despite their destruction in 1797, it is known that the tapestries of Francois I were copied on a smaller scale (250cm high) in Paris between 1648 and 1659, probably in the Manufactures du Louvre in the workshop of Pierre and Jean Lefevre. This smaller set, of which the present lot is thought to be part, was commissioned by Cardinal Mazarin.

At the King's request, the set was offered as a diplomatic gift to Don Luis Méndes de Haro y Guzmán, 6th Marquis de Carpio (1598-1661), the first minister of Spain at the time of the conclusion and signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees on November 7, 1659. The peace treaty, which was signed between Louis XIV and Philip IV and brought an end to the Franco-Spanish War (1648-59), is said to herald the beginning of French dominance in Europe.

Interestingly, we know from his correspondence that Don Luis de Haro later disposed of these tapestries because he considered the 'figures' too small. Perhaps he knew of the earlier and much larger set of Francois I and found this smaller version a little insulting.

ARTISTIC ATTRIBUTION AND MOBILE FRESCOS OF THE NORTH:

Although the attribution to Giulio Romano is very likely, the possibility of other artistic influences cannot be discounted. Romano was arguably, after the death of Raphael, the most famous artist in the world in the early to mid-sixteenth century; he is the only artist referred to by name in the works of William Shakespeare. There is an undeniable Italian character in the rendering of the figures of the present lot. It is worth noting that our panels have a fresco-like quality and, indeed, Italians during the 16th century often referred to Northern tapestries as 'the mobile fresco of the North.'

There are also some specifically Mantuan quotes in these panels: the coffered ceiling reflects Alberti's vaulted ceiling in the vestibule of the Church of Sant'Andrea, and the pilastered border bears a striking resemblance to the decorative border painted by Mantegna in the Camera edgli Sposi in the Western part of the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua.

More significantly for the present lot, there is a record in 1533 of a payment of 300 gold écus (coins) from the court of Francois I for the delivery of:
"deux patrons de tappicerie painctz sur toille à satyres... où sont figurés plusieurs histoires de poésies ,satires et nymphes' au peintre Barthélémy Guetty" (two cartoons/patterns of tapestry painted by Barthelemy Guetty on canvas where there are several stories of poetry, satyrs and nymphs).

The name Barthélémy Guetty is the French name afforded to the Italian painter and designer Bartolomeo Guetti of the Compagnia di San Luca in Florence. He was in the service of Francois I between 1513-1514 and returned to Florence in 1534, where he died in 1538. Giulio Romano was by then based in Mantua and may have seen Guetty's designs, adapting them with his own Mantuan quotations. Many Italian designs were woven in Brussels for the French Court throughout the 16th and 17th centuries and this set is a perfect example of this artistic partnership.

Later editions of this set produced by the Gobelins manufactory at the end of the 17th century, with their broader landscapes and omission of architectural detail, highlight just how beautifully crafted this earlier set is. Examples of these later sets in the Getty Archive show by comparison a different artistic vision and a certain two-dimensionality.

Bibliography:

Brosens, K.; Brosens, K.; Delmarcel, G.; Delmarcel, G. Flemish Tapestry in European and American Collections : Studies in Honour of Guy Delmarcel; Studies in Western Tapestry; Brepols: Turnhout, Belgium, 2003.

Brown, C. M.; Delmarcel, G.; Delmarcel, G.; Lorenzoni, A. M.; Lorenzoni, A. M. Tapestries for the Courts of Federico Ii, Ercole, and Ferrante Gonzaga, 1522-63; Monograph on the Fine Arts, V. 52; College Art Association in association with University of Washington Press: Seattle, 1996.

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Furlotti, B.; Rebecchini, G.; Rebecchini, G. The Art of Mantua : Power and Patronage in the Renaissance; Jenkens, A. L., Translator; J. Paul Getty Museum: Los Angeles, 2008.

Hartt, F.; Bollingen Foundation Collection (Library of Congress). Giulio Romano; Yale University Press: New Haven, 1958.

Hefford, W. Tapestries for the Courts of Federico Ii, Ercole, and Ferrante Gonzaga, 1522-63. by Clifford M. Brown and Guy Delmarcel. Seattle : College Art Association in Association with University of Washington Press, 1996. [book Review]. 1997.

Romano, G.; Gombrich, E. H.; Tafuri, M.; Tafuri, M. Giulio Romano, English.; Architecture in Early Modern Italy; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1998.

Romano, G.; Aste, R.; Cox-Rearick, J.; Aste, R.; Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery; Cox-Rearick, J.; Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery. Giulio Romano, Master Designer : An Exhibition of Drawings in Celebration of the Five Hundredth Anniversary of His Birth; Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery, Hunter College of the City University of New York: New York, 1999.

The Pedigree of her Royal and Most serene Highness, the Duchess of Mantua, Montferrat and Ferrara,' 1885 London, Royal Collections of Scotland