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Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor
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A Naval Battle (detail)
From a set of the Art of War II
Design and cartoon by Philippe de Hondt and workshop, ca. 1715–20
Woven in the workshop of Judocus de Vos, Brussels, ca. 1722–24
Wool and silk; 13 ft. 1 1/2 in. x 25 ft. 11 3/4 in. (400 x 792 cm)
Bayerische Verwaltung der Staatlichen Schlösser, Gärten und Seen, Neues Schloss Schleissheim, Munich
See an image of the entire panel.
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This tapestry forms part of the second Art of War series produced in Brussels. The first, conceived around 1695 by Lambert de Hondt, depicted realistic scenes of the rigors of military life. It enjoyed considerable success, with sets being sold to leading European patrons such as Maximilian Emmanuel of Bavaria, governor of the Austrian Netherlands, King William III of England, and the Duke of Marlborough. The success of the Art of War I inspired the development of a second series of this subject by Lambert's son, Philibert, sometime between 1715 and 1720. This incorporated more battle sequences, of which the present piece depicting the turmoil of a naval battle was the most ambitious. The set from which this particular weaving derives was made for the same Maximilian Emmanuel of Bavaria, who had purchased a set of the Art of War I in 1696. Maximilian Emmanuel allied with the French during the Wars of the Spanish Succession and fled to Versailles in 1706, returning to Germany in 1715. After his return he built a new palace at Schleissheim in the grand French style, completed in 1722, and the Art of War II tapestries were presumably commissioned to decorate this palace, where they remain to this day.
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