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Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor
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The Riding Lesson (detail)
From an eight-piece set of the Story of Artemisia
Cartoon by Laurent Guyot, 1607, after a drawing by Antoine Caron, ca. 1560
Woven in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel workshop, Paris, ca. 1611–27
Wool and silk; 13 ft. 6 5/8 in. x 19 ft. 8 1/4 in. (408 x 600 cm)
Manufactory mark FM in right selvage
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Ethel Morrison Van Derlip Fund (48.13.7)
See an image of the entire panel.
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The Story of Artemisia is based on a partly fictional narrative assembled by the French apothecary Nicolas Houel about 1561–62 as a homage to the recently widowed queen regent, Catherine de' Medici. Houel constructed the character on two historical figures from Asia Minor: Artemisia I, ally of Xerxes and mother of King Lygdamis; and Artemisia II, widow of King Mausolus, who erected the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus to her husband's memory, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. To this framework, Houel added fictive episodes to enhance the flattering analogies to Catherine. Having written the original text in prose, Houel reworked it into sonnets, illustrated with drawings by Antoine Caron (1521–1599). In his preface he noted that these might serve as the basis to "make beautiful and rich tapestry painting". This ambitious plan was not realized at the time, probably because of the turmoil of the French religious wars. Forty years later, however, King Henry IV turned the tapestry project to his own account and, in paying homage to Catherine de' Medici, reaffirmed the dynastic ties that linked him to the last of the Valois rulers. After Henry's death in 1610, the subject gained new relevance as a flattering comparison for Henry's widow, Marie de' Medici, and her son Louis XIII.
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