BRUSSELS DETOURED TAPESTRY PANEL, LATE 15th, EARLY 16th CENT - Lot 268

BRUSSELS DETOURED TAPESTRY PANEL, LATE 15th, EARLY 16th CENTURY Wool and silk. Brussels tapestry, circa 1595, with a concomitant subject: - a mythological theme on the story of the Dice Diana - Aurochs hunting theme To be compared with the Brussels panel reproduced in "European Tapestry in the Institut of Chicago" by Koenraad Brosens, p. 118/119, Yale University Press, 2008 to be compared with the series of hunting wall hangings from the workshops of Philippe van Der Cammen in Enghien (Belgium), from the Louis-Philippe estate (Orléans family), in the collections of Château de Brissac. Here, on the right, in the foreground, we can see the mythological theme of the Goddess Diana in the company of a nymph, perhaps Sylvia, inspired by the novel Aminta by Le Tasse (Italian author, 1544-1595). On the far left, a noble hunter armed with a rifle, probably the Austrian Archduke Albert of Brussels (1559-1621). Accompanied by a wolf hunter, above left in the undergrowth, some beaters, in the center of the panel also some beaters, dogs and pickers fighting against a charging auroch, above, further in the perspective, Italian-style espaliered gardens precede what appears to be an abbey and snow-capped mountains in the distance. Dimensions: Height: 240cm; Width: 220cm. Minor wear and maintenance restorations Sold by designation - Mythological theme Diana is the daughter of Latona (Leto) and Jupiter, twin sister of Apollo, born on the island of Ortigia, later called Delos. She was born a few moments before her brother. Witnessing her mother's sorrows, she became so averse to marriage that she asked her father to grant her perpetual virginity, like her sister Minerva (Athena). It was for this reason that these two goddesses were given the name of White Virgins by Apollo's oracle. Jupiter himself armed her with bow and arrow, and made her queen of the woods. He gave her a retinue of sixty nymphs, called Oceanies, and twenty others called Asies, from whom she demanded inviolable chastity. With this numerous and graceful retinue, she indulges in hunting, her favorite occupation. All her nymphs are tall and beautiful, but the goddess surpasses them all in size and beauty. Like her brother Apollo, she has different names: on earth, she is known as Diana or Artemis; in heaven, Luna (the Moon) or Phoebe; in the Underworld, Hecate. She also had a large number of nicknames, depending on the qualities attributed to her, the regions she seemed to favor and the temples where she was honored. When Apollo (the Sun) disappears over the horizon, Diana (the Moon) shines in the heavens and spreads her light discreetly in the mysterious depths of Night. The functions of these two divinities are not identical, but similar: alternately, they light up the world; hence their fraternal character. Apollo is best celebrated by young boys; Diana, rather, by girls' choirs. - Hunting themeVery often, these tapestries were populated with noble, fantastic and even legendary animals. Showing that fantastic fauna was alive and well in every land, even on the outskirts of our homes. These tapestries were ideal for telling stories of hunting, counts and legends during evening gatherings. At a time when the real and the fabulous were often confused, certain animals had a special place in the popular imagination. Often improperly referred to in literature as "bull hunting", the aurochs had a very special status, being considered both real and fabulous. Known to our ancestors from their encounters in our forests, it was an animal reserved for princes to hunt. At a time when a significant proportion of the forests of Western Europe had already been cleared for agriculture, Julius Caesar, in a chapter of the Gallic Wars devoted to a description of the Germans, one of the peoples he fought during his conquest of Gaul, mentions the aurochs, which he is told live in the immense Hercynian forest along with elks and other wild animals no longer found in Roman Italy or its early colonies. "The size of these animals is somewhat smaller than that of elephants; their color and shape make them resemble bulls. Their strength and speed are equally remarkable; nothing they see, man or beast, escapes them. We kill them, taking them