The Rundāle Palace Museum’s exhibition ‘From the Gothic Style to Art Nouveau’ features two expressive tapestries with scenes from antique mythology – ‘Agamemnon at Apollo’s Altar’ crafted in Flanders in the 1st half of the 17th century and ‘Apollo and Calliope’ made in the same area during the 1st quarter of the 18th century.
From long ago weaving has been one of the most cultivated crafts. It epitomises the culture of handicraft, the richness and range of patterns and colours, the rhythm and unison of composition, and an awareness of the natural characteristics and beauty of materials.
Tapestry (gobelin in French; гобелен in Russian; Tapisserie in German) refers both to the technique of weaving carpets by interlacing coloured weft threads through plain warp threads to free-form an image, and to the end-product of textile art. Historically tapestries, such as decorative drapes or carpets, were handwoven, often using drawings and paintings by eminent and lesser known artists as examples. Silk threads or wool, as well as mixed materials, were used in this process. Their colour, durability and other characteristics determine the overall quality of tapestry. The mid-section of tapestries depicted landscapes, plants and figures of birds and animals, in addition to religious, mythological or historic scenes, while various decorative elements or ornaments were selected as border décor.
Tapestry has a dual purpose – it serves a functional object, for example, wall covering, and simultaneously is a work of art. Crafted during a certain period in line with the prevailing techniques, frequently incorporating methods characteristic to a specific master. Tapestries are made in accordance with the fashion of each period and depict popular scenes, symbols and manners.
Restoration of tapestries in the collection of Rundāle Palace Museum
Both aforementioned tapestries in the Museum’s collection are handmade and have been woven using the continuous and discontinuous weft method. They are made from wool and silk threads in blue, red, brown, yellow-brown and greenish colours, as well as linen and cotton threads.
A comprehensive restoration was required before each tapestry could be exhibited. To start with, the tapestry is divided into squares. Then surface dust is removed from each square with a hoover and a brush applied to both sides. Cleaning is then continued at the suction table with a steam compressor to remove dirt attached to the fibres. Afterwards wool and silk threads are dyed in the required colours. Damaged parts are filled in tapestry pattern by weaving weft threads through warp threads. The final step in the process is duplication when linen fabric is sewn on the reverse and fastened with cotton trim strips.
Tapestry ‘Apollo and Calliope’
The tapestry depicts a scene with three-figure composition. In its centre a seated woman in light-yellow outfit – her arms lifted, laurel wreath around her head, open books on her lap and scattered on the ground around her feet. Next to her is a man wearing red cape, on the right side of the foreground – a cupid with open book in his hands, arrow-sheath by the side and bow under the legs. On the tapestry’s left side – cello, lira and trumpet; on the right side – pitcher, glass and plate with fruit, under the table – lira. In the background, regular park plantation, round trimmed trees and cypresses, in the distance – castle on a hill. The decorative border of tapestry is designed as a wood-carved frame.
The components in this composition indicate that the theme of this mythological scene is Apollo and Calliope. In Ancient Greek mythology Apollo was one of the twelve gods of Olympus, the patron saint of art who had nine muses. One of these muses was Calliope – the muse of epic poetry and eloquence whose typical attributes include lira, parchment and trumpet.
The Rundāle Palace Museum acquired this tapestry from a private seller in 1978 and restoration was carried out in 2012.
Tapestry ‘Agamemnon at Apollo’s Altar’
The Rundāle Palace Museum acquired this tapestry in 2006 from an antiques store in Riga with assertion that it used to be in the property of the Benjamiņš family. It had a different title – ‘King Solomon and Queen of Sheba’, stemming from the assumption that it depicted the moment when the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, after she had learnt of his wisdom, and presented him with exquisite gifts of sandalwood essential oils and spices. The composition of tapestry does not essentially contradict this explanation of the depicted scene: in its centre stands a woman wearing red dress with wide decorative belt, on her left – a man and a woman dressed in splendid attire with monarch’s crowns on their heads, on the right – an altar with a sculpture of a golden-coloured god but on the right side of the foreground – a kneeling young man with laurel wreath around his head, placed in front of him chest, pitcher and small ladle. Several figures stand behind them – an elderly man with long, grey beard, another man holding a torch, a soldier in helmet and two women. Several human figures are depicted in the background on the left surrounding a flaming sacrificial altar, and in its centre – a southern landscape with a bird in flight carrying a laurel wreath.
However, ‘Tapestries of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania’ – a book by Lithuanian researcher Ieva Jedzinskaitė-Kuizinienė, published in 2012, reveals that the tapestry in the collection of Rundāle Palace Museum depicts an entirely different scene from Ancient Greek mythology, one of its most poeticised events – the Trojan War. This is confirmed by an almost identical tapestry in the collection of the National Museum of Lithuania acquired from an antiques store in Italy in 2007 but featuring a different, wide decorative border adorned with allegorical figures and their descriptions in Latin. Furthermore, this tapestry is part of a set – the second tapestry with identical border depicts Priam the king of Troy and the famous Trojan horse at the gates of the besieged city.
It is now known that in the 17th century scenes of the Trojan War were popular subjects in the work of weavers from Brussels because customers relished art objects with military scenes from antique history. In addition to finding tapestries with scenes of the Trojan War made by other weavers in Flanders in the 17th century, the Lithuanian researcher has also traced a third tapestry with decorative border and scene from the Trojan war identical to both items currently held in the collection of the National Museum of Lithuania. It is stored in a private collection in Florence, consequently – this has been a wider cycle. Therefore, it is highly likely the tapestry in the collection of Rundāle Palace Museum has its own ‘brothers’ that with any luck will be found over time and reveal further secrets about this work of art.
According to Ieva Jedzinskaite-Kuiziniene, both tapestries in the collection of the National Museum of Lithuania with scenes of the Trojan war were woven in the first half of the 17th century following the design of an unknown artist, which in turn was created after the samples of 16th century painter Michael I Coxcie, also Coxie (1499–1592). Tapestries were woven at the manufactory of Frans I van den Hecke (159–1675) in Brussels, certified by the manufactory mark:
Identical manufactory mark is woven in the lower right corner of the tapestry in the collection of Rundāle Palace Museum.
Master Frans I van den Hecke comes from a famous family of weavers and his name is associated with a Baroque flourishing of Flemish textile art. Under his management, manufactory operated from 1629 to 1675 when it was taken over by his son Jan van den Hecke. Tapestries made in this manufactory had the distinguishing ‘border’ of quality or decorative border.
Tapestry ‘Agamemnon at Apollo’s Altar’ is woven from wool threads, one centimetre holds 7 wefts and 6 warps. Before restoration it was very damaged – wefts and warps were lost, deformed and darned, the main reason for the high volume of torn wefts was the weight of tapestry. Restoration lasted from 2010 to 2012.
Written by: Aina Ābolniece-Āboliņa
Restorer in the Scientific Restoration Department of RPM
28.08.2020