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Vermeer and the Delft School
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Description
In 1620 François Spiering (d. 1631) transferred control of his business to his sons Aert (1593–1650) and Pieter (d. 1652). The same year King Gustaf II Adolf of Sweden (1594–1632) ordered a large number of tapestries from the firm and four new caparisons (parade costumes for horses). These extremely rare and expensive ensembles, each consisting of three pieces, were intended for the celebration of the king's marriage to Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg in fall 1621. It is not known whether the king's daughter and successor, Queen Christina (1626–1689), ever made use of the caparisons, but she did take two of them (now lost) to Rome after her abdication in 1654. This example and a companion set woven with a red ground (also in the Royal Armory, Stockholm) are the only surviving works of their kind.
Various martial accoutrements surround the escutcheons of Gustav II Adolf, while crowned lions support Sweden's coat of arms. The decorative elements resembles sixteenth-century grotesques by designers such as Cornelis Floris and Hans Vredeman de Vries, but the emphatic modeling is typical of Delft weaving in the 1620s.
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Description