Flandres ? Florence ?

Spelende kinderen. Playing children. Flanders? Florence ? Ca. 1675-1700. Wool and silk. Provenance: Bernard Blondeel, Antwerp, 1995 Certificate: Gaspard De Wit, 1995 Theme grown from the 'entre-fenêtres' of the 1664 tapestry suite The Four Seasons' by Charles Lebrun (1619-1690) commissioned by Louis XIV. Earliest edition dates from before 1685. A total of eight editions between 1664 and 1720 with numerous variations including the present one: four naked boys frolicking around a boy who is blindfolded. A richly landscaped garden with a fountain forms the backdrop, while a parrot on a twig provides a colorful note. Notable are the borders that suggest stucco and add a great deal of perspective to the tapestry. The left border gives the succession of a monkey in a water basin, a male satyr carrying a young girl with bare chest and turban on her shoulders and a figure coming through the greenery. The right border in turn depicts a monkey in a water basin, a female satyr, a boy who appears to be spicing roses and a flying putto. From the 3/4 of the 16th century such borders appear repeatedly in Florentine workshops. 239 x 334 cm