The Voyage of a Prince
Datecommissioned in 1717
Workshop of
Judocus de Vos
Flemish, Brussels, 1661-1734
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. In addition to strange winged creatures and a crocodile, this tapestry is inhabited by snakes. The iconography of many of these miniature scenes is not yet known, but we do recognize symbolism in several--a boy shakes a branch of coral at a snake that is winding its way up a tree to ward off evil, and a man rides a crocodile, which is an ancient symbol of fertility.
Object number2002.38.2
Provenanced' Arenberg inventory (probably 1905); [Christie's, London, 2000]; [Galerie Chevalier, Paris, France, 2000-2002]; purchased by Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2002
Photo CreditPhoto: Susan Cole
Published ReferencesWauters, Alphonse. Les Tapisseries Bruxelloises - Essai Historique sur les tapisseries et les tapissiers de haute et de basse-lice de Bruxelles. Bussels: Imprimerie Ve Julien Baertsoen, 1878; pp. 351, 352.
Wace, Alan. The Marlborough Tapestries at Blenheim Palace and their relation to other Military tapestries of the War of the Spanish Succession. Phaidon: London and New York, 1968.
Delmarcel, Guy. Flemish Tapestry. London: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1999; p. 370.
Brosens, Koenraad, "The Duke of Arenberg's Brussels Chinoiserie Tapestries by Judocus de Vos." Filo Forme vol. 4, no. 9 (Spring 2004): 3.
Campbell, Thomas, ed. Tapestry in the Baroque, Threads of Splendor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007, pp. 449.Credit LineGift of the 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
Dimensions106 x 87 1/2 in. (268 x 218 cm)
MediumWool, silk, metallic threads