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Printing Instructions

Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence

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Dragon Fighting with a Panther
Design by the circle of Pieter Coecke van Aelst, ca. 1550
Border design attributed to the circle of Cornelis Floris and Cornelis Bos
Woven in Brussels, ca. 1550–60
Wool, silk, silver- and gilt-metal-wrapped thread; 11 ft. 10 7/8 in. x 11 ft. 1 in. (363 x 337 cm)
Unidentified weaver's mark (top right selvage)
Zamek Królewski na Wawelu—Panstwowe Zbiory Sztuki, Kraków

Description

Detail View

Description This tapestry was one of forty-four depicting animals in naturalistic, wooded landscapes acquired by Sigismund II Augustus, king of Poland and Lithuania, for Wawel, his castle at Cracow. Although no documents related to their production and acquisition have been found, the tapestries are generally dated between 1550 and 1560 on stylistic grounds. A lush wooded landscape in this tapestry provides an evocative setting for a violent confrontation between a dragon and a panther. The exacting representation of flora and fauna in this and other tapestries of the set reflects the intellectual spirit of the Renaissance. Several important publications that began to shape the modern science of zoology appeared in the decade after 1550. But this scene is also tempered by the moralizing symbolism of the Middle Ages. According to medieval bestiaries such as the Physiologus, the dragon may be seen as the devil and the panther as Christ so that the tapestry represents not only a fight between two animals but also the struggle between good and evil.

Photograph Credits