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Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor
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Siege of Zierikzee (detail)
From a six-piece set known as the Zeeland Tapestries
Designed by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, autumn 1599
Cartoon executed by Hubrecht Leyniers
Woven in the workshop of Hendrick de Maeght, Middelburg, 1599–1600
Wool and silk; 12 ft. 11 1/4 in. x 12 ft. 8 in. (394.5 x 386 cm)
Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg (BR72-010)
See an image of the entire panel.
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This tapestry is one of a set that depicts the battles between 1572 and 1576 of the Spanish army and the Northern Provinces for control of the strategic Schledt river delta—the waterways between Antwerp and the island of Walcheren. The fight was won by the Zeeland rebels and resulted in the rise of the sovereign and independent State of Zeeland. The tapestries were ordered twenty years later to commemorate the events of this freedom struggle and were used as a visual display of power by this young state, which, together with six other provinces, formed the Dutch Republic. The design was provided by the Haarlem painter Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom (1566–1640), who later became famous as a painter of seascapes. Vroom undertook detailed research in the preparation of the various designs; to prepare for the Siege of Zierikzee he visited the actual location in the company of eyewitnesses to the events.
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