Rare TAPESTRIES representing "Queen Thomiris receiving the messenger of Cyrus" episode of the History of Cyrus the Great, made from princeps drawings by Maerten van Heemskerck (1498-1574). Attributed to the workshop of Frans Geubels Brussels, 3rd quarter of the 16th century. Height : 2,71 m - Length : 2,56 m Provenance : Private collection. (Paris). By descent since the second half of the 19th century. Expert : Elisabeth Floret - Tel. 06 12 31 04 27 The Scythian queen Thomiris (or Tomiris) having defeated the Persian king Cyrus the Great receives her emissary who asks for her clemency. She will be rejected and Cyrus will have his head cut off. The hanging of Cyrus narrates the different episodes and was successfully interpreted by several Brussels workshops, including that of Leyniers. The subjects are directly inspired by the drawings of Maerten van Heemskeck. The borders are made up of canopies decorated with allegories, one of which represents Justice, another Renommée or Victory. As the Toms collection indicates, this type of border is found only around tapestries woven in the workshop of Frans Geubels (active from 1550 to 1578). The Spanish royal collections preserve several hangings of this subject, the museum of Saint Louis (Missouri) preserves a tapestry of the same subject. Wool and silk, wear restorations, folded at the top, lined, outer blue braid added. See: Paulina Junquera de Vega, Concha Herrero Carretero. Catalogo des Tapices del Patrimonio Nacional. 1986. Series 39-40 p.288 G.Eberhard Cotton. The Toms Pauli collection. Lausanne. 2010 p.34-35.