Audience of a Prince
commissioned in 1717
This tapestry is part of a suite of four European chinoiserie tapestries that depict imaginary interpretations of life in Asia. The tapestries feature magical scenes of exotic figures clothed in flowing robes and elaborate headdresses, fantastic animals, botanical studies, and purely imaginative flights of fancy. This suite of Flemish tapestries was commissioned for the Duke Leopold-Philippe d'Arenberg's residence in Brussels in 1717, when it was fashionable for wealthy Europeans to create rooms evoking an exotic, foreign atmosphere. Strange animals inhabit many of the scenes on this tapestry. At the top of the tapestry, a goat-like creature descends a rocky cliff, and a man does battle with large green birds, one of which attacks his hat. A parrot, sea serpent, ostrich, and crocodile are all featured in the lower half of the tapestry.
Wool, silk, metallic threads
146 7/16 x 58 1/4 in. (370.8 x 148 cm)
Gift of Guendolen Carkeek Plestcheeff Endowment for the Decorative Arts, Anonymous, General Acquisition Fund, Mildred King Dunn, Richard and Betty Hedreen, Decorative Arts Acquisition Fund, Margaret Perthou-Taylor, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Art Acquisition Fund, Ann Bergman and Michael Rorick, Mr. and Mrs. David E. Maryatt
2002.38.4
Provenance: Purchased from Galerie Chevalier, Paris, France, 2002; Christie's London to Galerie Chevalier, 2000; d' Arenberg inventory (probably 1905)
Courtesy of the Galerie Chevalier, Paris