Summary

Tapestry, wool and silk, 8 warps per cm, The Triumph of Virtue from a set of four of The Story of Mankind, Hendrik I Reydams, Brussels, after a design attributed to Antoine Sallaert, c. 1640-1660. The focal point of the tapestry is the figure of Virtue who rides in a large chariot pulled by putti with the attributes of Temperance (a bridle and a half-filled glass), Fortitude (a broken column), Prudence (a snake and a mirror) and Justice (a sword and scales). More putti hover around Virtue’s head with the attributes of the three Cardinal Virtues, Faith (a cross), Hope (an anchor) and Charity (a flaming heart), whilst in the clouds sympathetic winds help to blow the chariot on its righteous course. The scene is watched over on each side by two pairs of Ancient Philosophers wearing laurel wreaths and holding books, possibly emblematic of Logic. The putti and the chariot trample various negative personifications underfoot, including Fortune (blindfolded, with a mirror), Time (and old man with wings and a scythe), Death (a skeleton), Envy (with snakes for hair, gnawing on a heart), and the many-breasted Diana of the Ephesians. The borders are composed of carved stone decoration interspersed with fruit and flowers. There are cartouches at the centre of each side and lion masks at the corners, swags in the upper border extending illusionistically over the picture plane, and in the lower border more swags of fruit supported by winged putti. Half of the lower border has been folded under.

Full description

The tapestry is one of four at Cotehele, part of a larger series known as the ‘Story of Mankind’. The set is designed to convey a moral lesson, following Mankind on a path through various temptations, virtues and vices, reflecting the ages of man and his changing attitude to Fortune. The principal moral of the series is an appeal to exercise the virtue of Temperance (who appears in many of the scenes, with the attribute of a bridle) in the face of various temptations, in order to have good fortune (Bona Fortuna). The current tapestry is the culmination of the set and includes most of the personifications that appear in the other scenes, subordinated to the triumphant figure of Virtue. Another version of the scene in the Spanish Royal Collection includes a Latin inscription at the top explaining the scene: AMOR VTAE. SI / PECTORE FERVEAT. VNAM / VITRVTEM. CODITO. / CAETERA. MORTIS. ERVNT. There must originally have been more tapestries from this set at Cotehele than the four that survive, as a complete side border survives in storage sewn to an unrelated piece of verdure (348310), and an additional lower border also now in storage (348279.2) was formerly attached to one of the ‘Story of Rome’ tapestries (348294). By around 1840 when the Rev. Arundell visited Cotehele however there were only four tapestries, displayed in the Old Drawing Room as they are today. Arundell commented that “The tapestry in this apartment is admirable in design and execution; and the only regret of the spectator is, that the person from whose loom it came … had not kindly given an explanatory notice over each piece”, he concluded that “instead of presuming to decide upon the subjects of the … pieces of tapestry, it may be more modest simply to describe them” (Arundell 1840, p. 33). The design of the ‘Story of Mankind’ series is attributed to the Brussels painter and tapestry designer Antoine Sallaert (1594 – 1650) on the basis of a pen-and-ink sketch attributed to him in the Musée Plantin Moretus, Antwerp, which relates to the final scene, ‘The Triumph of Virtue’. This drawing probably served as a ‘petit patron’ or small-scale model which was then worked up into a full-sized cartoon by a specialist cartoon painter. Sallaert became a master painter in Brussels in 1613 and in 1646 he was granted a certificate by the tapestry weavers of the city allowing him exemption from certain taxes. The tapestry weavers stated that Sallaert had already “invented more than twenty-seven tapestry chambers by his own work and had drawn the cartoons for them”, and went on to say that their industry “had not only gained a new style or manner in its work, but in addition had been freed of the need to seek such cartoons from painters in other cities” (quoted in Delmarcel 1999, pp. 240-1). Sallaert’s ‘new style’ was characterised by large, monumental figures arranged in a shallow foreground plane, strongly influenced by Rubens, who had transformed Flemish tapestry design in the 1630s with sets such as ‘The History of Decius Mus’ and ‘The Triumph of the Eucharist’. Sallaert’s tapestry designs include many specific references to Rubens such as ‘The Triumph of Virtue’, which closely resembles Rubens’s ‘Triumph of the Eucharist’ – The Rev. Arundell actually confused the two designs when he visited Cotehele. The lower borders of all four tapestries at Cotehele bear the mark of the city of Brussels (two ‘B’s either side of a red shield) and the signature of the master weaver/entrepreneur Hendrik I Reydams (c. 1600-1669). These marks are all now hidden since the lower edge of each tapestry is folded over. Hendrik I Reydams was made a member of the Brussels tapestry weavers’ guild in 1629, gained a privilege in 1640 and became dean of the craft in 1650, and after his death in 1669 his son, Hendrik II Reydams (fl. 1665-1719) continued his workshop. The tapestry set at Cotehele probably dates from the 1640s or 1650s. The four tapestries at Cotehele represent one of four surviving weavings of ‘The Story of Mankind’. Two sets are in the Spanish Royal Collection (Junquera de Vega and Diaz Gallegos 1986, pp. 134-148). The first has no surviving signature but according to Göbel was signed by Jan van den Hecke, and has been dated to c. 1630. It is a complete set of seven tapestries, and includes the following subjects: ‘Temperance and the Pagan Gods’, ‘Fortune Berating those who Demand too many Gifts’, ‘The Vices Chasing Temperance away’, ‘Patience Humbling Fortune’, ‘The Triumph of Virtue over the Vices’, ‘Blind Fortune Distributing Plenty and Want’, and ‘Time Leading the Pleasures away from Old Age’. The second Spanish set is signed by the Brussels weaver/entrepreneur Jan II Raes (c. 1570-1643) and includes five panels: ‘Temperance and the Pagan Gods’, ‘The Vices Chasing Temperance away’, ‘Patience Humbling Fortune’, ‘The Triumph of Virtue over the Vices’ (reduced in size), ‘Two Ancient Philosophers’ (part of ‘The Triumph of Virtue’) and ‘Time Leading the Pleasures away from Old Age’. A third set consisting of four panels, including ‘Time Leading the Pleasures away from Old Age’, is in the collection of the Accademia dei Concordi, Rogivo, but has not been fully published. The two sets in the Spanish Royal Collection appear to be slightly earlier in date than the one at Cotehele. Comparison of the designs reveals that whilst the two Spanish sets are remarkable close to one another, the Cotehele set differs from them both in a number of respects. For example in ‘Temperance and the Pagan Gods’ at Cotehele Jupiter is almost naked, whilst in the earlier sets he is dressed in elaborate royal robes; in ‘The Vices Chasing Temperance away’, although the figures have the same attributes, they have been substantially rearranged in the Cotehele version, and the whole composition is reversed; the background to ‘The Triumph of Virtue’ is less extensive on the right hand side at Cotehele, and includes more clouds; and in the Cotehele version of ‘Time leading the Pleasures away from Old Age’, Time’s wings are smaller and he has gained a blue cloak. Overall there are numerous small alterations and noticeable stylistic differences in the execution of the Cotehele panels when compared with the two Spanish sets, suggesting that Reydams was working from cartoons copied from the originals and modified in the process. (Helen Wyld, 2010)