NEW YORK.-From the Middle Ages through the late 18th century, the courts of Europe lavished vast resources on tapestries made in precious materials after designs by the leading artists of the day, and works in this spectacular medium were prized by the aristocracy for their artistry and also as tools of propaganda. Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor – on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning October 17 – will offer the first comprehensive survey of high-quality 17th-century European tapestry, and will demonstrate the importance of tapestry as a prestigious figurative medium throughout that century. Organized by the Metropolitan Museum, it is a sequel to the ground-breaking exhibition, Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence, that received widespread public and scholarly acclaim during its presentation at the Metropolitan in spring 2002.

"This exhibition will provide one of the grandest displays of Baroque tapestry that has been seen since Louis XIV strolled through the galleries of Versailles," said Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum. "As a visual experience, it will be without parallel for a modern audience."

The exhibition is made possible by the Hochberg Foundation Trust and the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund. Corporate support is provided by Fortis. The exhibition is also made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Society of Friends of Belgium in America, and the Flemish Government. It was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, with the generous participation of the Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Drawing from collections in more than 15 countries, Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor presents 40 rare tapestries made between 1590 and 1720. Commissioned by kings, popes, and noblemen, these woven frescoes embody the grandest artistic ambitions of their patrons. The pieces have been selected for their condition and color, and together will provide an unprecedented insight to the role of tapestry in 17th–century court culture.

The secondary theme of the exhibition is the stylistic development of tapestry during this era and the contributions of artists like Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Simon Vouet, Charles LeBrun, Pietro da Cortona and Giovanni Romanelli, as they responded to the challenges of the medium in unique and individual ways. The exhibition will include about 25 designs and oil sketches, demonstrating the thought and artistry which these woven frescoes required.

About half of the tapestries in the exhibition derive from Flemish workshops, reflecting the preponderant role of the Low Countries in the greatest tapestry production of the day. Highlights of the Brussels tapestry industry include the Triumphs of the Church designed by Peter Paul Rubens for the archduchess Isabella in 1626, tapestries from the Austrian state collection designed by Jacob Jordaens and others in the 1630s and 1640s, and the Victories of the Duke of Marlborough woven in Brussels in the early 1700s for Blenheim Palace in England. Migrant Flemish weavers also played a key part in the formation of new workshops elsewhere in Europe. The exhibition will include rare examples of this work, including a throne canopy made for the King of Denmark in 1584, tapestries made at Mortlake for Charles I, King of England in the 1620s, and exquisite tapestries from Florence, Rome and Paris. Some of the most ambitious tapestries of the day were woven for Louis XIV at the Gobelins manufactory, established in Paris in 1662. The exhibition will include a survey of the finest products of this enterprise.

The Metropolitan Museum's Thomas P. Campbell, curator of the exhibition, noted: "For most rich 17th-century patrons, tapestry remained the principal medium of figurative decoration and propaganda. Yet the subject is barely mentioned in modern history books. Tapestry in the Baroque provides a counterbalance to this myopic vision of the past."

The exhibition comprises nine sections that follow the development of the leading European tapestry centers between the mid-1580s and about 1720. The first section focuses on the diaspora of weavers from the Southern Netherlands during the civil war of the 1570s and 1580s and the creation of new workshops elsewhere. It opens with a spectacular throne canopy made by Flemish weavers in Copenhagen in 1584, and wall hangings from a manufactory established in Delft in about 1590 by Frans Spiering, formerly of Antwerp. The Spiering workshop enjoyed great success during the following 20 years, providing tapestries to the Protestant courts of northern Europe from designs by artists like Karel van Mander the Elder. This section will also include tapestries made in Munich in the early 1600s for Maximilian I by Flemish artists and designers.

The second section of the exhibition will focus on the revival of the Brussels industry in the early 1600s, under the patronage of the Archduke Albert and Isabella. Local artists lacked the design experience of their forebears, as evidenced by sets such as the Battles of Archduke Albert and, consequently, "old master" designs continued to play an important part in Brussels production throughout the first third of the 17th century, as various examples will illustrate. During the 1610s new life was introduced to Brussels tapestry design by Rubens' Decius Mus designs (ca. 1616), which will be represented by an especially fine weaving from the Spanish royal collection. Rubens painted the cartoons for the Decius series in oil on canvas, rather than the traditional medium of watercolor on paper, with the consequence that the design was conceived in terms of color, light and shadow, which were challenging for the weavers to reproduce in wool and silk. Nonetheless, the series provided an important new design to the repertory of the Brussels workshops and, in time, a significant model for other designers, both in Brussels and elsewhere.

The recession of the Brussels industry during the last quarter of the 16th century allowed the tapestry industries in other countries to grow and flourish (often with the aid of immigrant Flemish weavers). The most important of these competing centers was Paris, which will be the subject of the third section of the exhibition. Here again, the challenge was to reference good designs. Late 16th-century artwork provided some models, such as a manuscript Story of Artemisia created in the 1560s for Catherine de Medici with illustrations by Antoine Caron. Forty years later, this was used as the basis for cartoons painted by Toussaint Dubreuil, among others. A new repertoire was introduced from the early 1600s by artists such as Henri Lerambert, who was responsible for completing a Story of Diana series conceived by Dubreuil. This will be represented by an especially fine weaving from the Kunshistorisches Museum, Vienna. The continuing quest for new designs led Louis XIII to commission a Story of Constantine series from Rubens in 1622. The resulting work is one of Ruben's greatest contributions to the tapestry medium, although it failed to capture the royal appointment for which the artist hoped, partly because Louis and his courtiers perceived some of the same design flaws in the compositions as those already noted in the Decius series. It was not until the late 1620s that the Paris ateliers found their true champion with the work of Simon Vouet. Like the most successful tapestry designers of the mid-16th century, Vouet produced his cartoons in collaboration with a team of artists, some skilled in landscapes, others in border design, ensuring that the whole surface of the completed cartoons was well drawn, richly patterned, and visually engaging. The exhibition will include one tapestry and various engravings from Vouet's Story of the Old Testament.

Henri