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Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor
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The Battle of Veseris and the Death of Decius Mus (detail)
Sixth panel of an eight-piece set of the Story of Decius Mus
Modello and cartoon by Peter Paul Rubens, 1616–17
Woven in the workshop of Jan Raes II in collaboration with Jacques Geubels II, Brussels, between 1620 and 1629
Silk, wool, and silver and gilt-metal wrapped thread; 13 ft. 1 1/2 in. x 19 ft. 3/8 in. (400 x 580 cm)
Signature of Jan Raes II and Brussels-Brabant mark in lower selvage; signature of Jacques Geubels II in upper selvage; monogram of Jan Raes II in right selvage
Patrimonio Nacional, Embassy of Spain in Washington, D.C. (TA-52/6 10076094)
See an image of the entire panel.
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The Decius Mus series was designed by Rubens sometime around 1616 for an unidentified Genoese patron. It was his first documented essay in tapestry design and the first of the ambitious pictorial cycles that he would undertake in his career. Eschewing the decorative, heavily patterned style of much contemporary tapestry, Rubens drew inspiration from Raphael's Acts of the Apostles tapestry designs and, in the case of the Death of Decius Mus, from Leonardo da Vinci's famous failed fresco, the Battle of Anghiari. The series was additionally unusual because Rubens painted both the modelli and the full-scale cartoons in oil on canvas, rather than the more traditional medium of tempera on paper (although paper copies were probably used for the actual weaving process). This presented the weavers with a range of colors and painterly effects that were difficult to capture in wool and silk. Nonetheless, the designs were of immense significance, introducing a new spirit of drama and movement into contemporary tapestry weaving.
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