The Twelve Ages of a Man: The First Three Ages (Birth-18), or Spring
Probably after a design by the Workshop of Bernard van Orley Netherlandish
Not on view
This is the first of a set of four tapestries illustrating the life of a man as divided into twelve periods of six years. Venus, in the center, stands for the springtime of life; the symbols and occupations of three months, January, February, and March, represent the years from birth to eighteen. The stories show Moses, as a child, choosing a burning coal instead of a piece of gold; a Roman boy, Papirius, explaining to the Senators how he had tricked his mother in order to conceal their secrets; and the youthful Alexander astonishing the Persian ambassadors by his shrewdness.
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