A Flemish 'pergola' tapestry with an animated woodland landscape with animals, Oudenaarde, attributed to Arend Cobbaut, second half 16th C.

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A Flemish 'pergola' tapestry with an animated woodland landscape with animals, Oudenaarde, attributed to Arend Cobbaut, second half 16th C. 380 x 289 cm Wall tapestries of this type are characterised by a pergola structure, with the supporting pilasters in the centre terminating below in caryatids. Behind this architectural framework appear numerous large animals. In the foreground, four animals are engaged in combat: a dragon attacking a deer, a bear attempting to claim its share, and a spotted panther biting into the dragon's wing. A wild boar also appears in the foreground, while further into the scene are horsemen, a caravan with a camel, and numerous animals, large and small, amidst the greenery and the woodland beyond. The larger versions of these tapestries had only a narrow border; this was compensated for by a pronounced architectural framing incorporated into the tapestry itself. At the top, in both corners, young men support a festoon which extends across the entire upper section. They stand upon the edge of a capital forming part of the outer posts of the architectural structure. The two central pilasters terminate below in caryatids and are crowned above by faun-like mascarons. At the centre are enthroned Hades and Persephone; to either side are two angels who likewise support the festoon. In the lower corners are young figures, making music or playing with a small dog. A tapestry displaying identical compositional elements is preserved in the Mobilier National in Paris and is illustrated on p. 137 of 'Oudenaardse Wandtapijten' by Ingrid De Meûter, tapestry expert at the Royal Museums of Art and History (KMKG), Brussels. She records that this tapestry bears the weaver's mark CA, attributed to Arend Cobbaut. It can therefore be stated with a high degree of certainty that the tapestry offered here originated from the same workshop. The same publication, p. 139, also reproduces a black-and-white photograph of a 1:1 identical tapestry, woven from the same cartoon, formerly recorded in the archives of the distinguished New York art dealers French & Company. - A private collection, Belgium.

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