Null Tapestry from the Manufacture Royale d'Aubusson, mid-17th century.
Technica…
Description

Tapestry from the Manufacture Royale d'Aubusson, mid-17th century. Technical characteristics : Wool and silk. Dimensions: Height: 275cm; Width: 490cm. The theme of this tapestry is the life of Judith, the heroine of the Old Testament. Here, we see her on a pedestal, nobly dressed, brandishing at arm's length the head of the Assyrian general Holofernes, which she has just taken out of the sack held beside her by her old maid. The Assyrian army having laid siege to the town of Bethulia, Judith, using her charm, is accepted into the military camp, next to the general, whom she beheads while he sleeps. This allegory takes place in the early hours of the morning, within the city walls, where the inhabitants of the tribe of Zebulun are astounded by the feat of their fellow citizen, while the Assyrian soldiers are completely horrified to see their commander-in-chief having passed from life to death. The macabre presentation is witnessed by a noble audience of soldiers in shimmering armor, brandishing weapons and standards, and high-ranking civilians in richly embroidered draped togas. Borders with exuberant garlands of flowers, acanthus leaves and fruit baskets. (Minor wear and maintenance restorations).

375 

Tapestry from the Manufacture Royale d'Aubusson, mid-17th century. Technical characteristics : Wool and silk. Dimensions: Height: 275cm; Width: 490cm. The theme of this tapestry is the life of Judith, the heroine of the Old Testament. Here, we see her on a pedestal, nobly dressed, brandishing at arm's length the head of the Assyrian general Holofernes, which she has just taken out of the sack held beside her by her old maid. The Assyrian army having laid siege to the town of Bethulia, Judith, using her charm, is accepted into the military camp, next to the general, whom she beheads while he sleeps. This allegory takes place in the early hours of the morning, within the city walls, where the inhabitants of the tribe of Zebulun are astounded by the feat of their fellow citizen, while the Assyrian soldiers are completely horrified to see their commander-in-chief having passed from life to death. The macabre presentation is witnessed by a noble audience of soldiers in shimmering armor, brandishing weapons and standards, and high-ranking civilians in richly embroidered draped togas. Borders with exuberant garlands of flowers, acanthus leaves and fruit baskets. (Minor wear and maintenance restorations).

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French Aubusson tapestry, 19th century. "Landscape with castle". Hand-knotted wool. Measurements: 215 x 296 cm. The refinement of this hand-woven tapestry testifies to the high quality of Aubusson tapestries. A luxuriant garden opens before us showing a small lake with bridges on its banks and a castle in the background. Cherry blossoms and rose bushes border the pond. The landscape has been resolved with ease and descriptive precision, in richly contrasting tones with a predominance of green, blue and earthy tones, with pink details. The subject is in keeping with nineteenth-century aristocratic taste. The city of Aubusson agglutinated numerous tapestry workshops, which were created by Flemish weavers who settled in the area at the end of the 16th century. They had a rudimentary operation, compared to the Royal Gobelins Manufacture: they had no painters, dyers, nor a commercial structure, so their tapestries were sold in inns, to a lower class private clientele, mainly provincial aristocrats. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Aubusson workshops specialized in vegetable tapestries (with eminently floral decoration), but the situation changed radically when, in the mid-seventeenth century, this center was reorganized by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, minister of Louis XIV, with the aim of converting these workshops into royal manufactories. He then subjected the Aubusson and Felletin workshops to a guild regulation and, in exchange, promised to provide them with a painter and a dyer. This promise, however, would not become effective until the 18th century, a turning point for the workshops of La Marche, which would see a considerable increase in the quality of their tapestries by being able to count on a painter dedicated to making cartons and a dyer who would produce dyes of a higher quality than those used until then.