Hampton Court Tapestries 16 May

Findings from today's brisk research trip to establish which Tudor tapestries are currently on the walls at Hampton Court. I observed the following:

Great Hall
6x Abraham Cycle (1540s per Book 2, Ch.3) - Brussels stamp observable on only 2 though
NB/ a 7th Abraham tapestry is separately on show in the first room of the Mary apartments, as part of the light-show display that attempts to digitally enhance its colours.

3x Greek mythology [possibly Jason and Medea? Not sure, scenes of: a debate between a King and Queen with large moored navy in background; King as supplicant to Queen in woods setting; contest of arms between two Gods at sea]
NB/ a 4th in apparently the same cycle is separately on show in the Great Waiting Chamber, this depicts the same King watching as the Queen appears to faint/die and is supported by her ladies.

Various Tudor/Royal/Beaufort Armorial Bearings (e.g. Royal Arms, Tudor Rose, Fleur-de-lis, Beaufort Gate)
All about 2/3 feet high; strips of various lengths: 6ft, 12 ft etc.

Great Watching Chamber
1x Triumph [of Fame/Fate? Not sure, frieze includes Scipio, Pompey etc. at front, Alexander in middle, Priam and Paris at back apparently sinking into the ground, and contemporary-looking figures such as courtiers, bishops and popes, being trampled underfoot!]
1x Hercules [possibly the death of Heracles, as he is standing within a pyre, in front of an altar] (note French captioning at top; also that this one has been cut almost in half on the left side)
2x Allegorical Courtly Scenes
3x Wolsey Armorial Bearings [a) Family arms, b) Canterbury (Blue background) and Archbishopric of York, c) Another diocese in the style of Canterbury (? - Yellow background) and Archbishopric of York]

Elsewhere
Tapestries continue in Mary II's apartments, including a Judas Tree, 2 Acts of the Apostles, and 7-piece Alexander set. All carry the Brussels stamp and makers marks.

However, all the information captions and boards list these as being 17th or early-18th C works. Interesting though, that huge money was still being sent abroad once the Mortlake factory (1619-1703) was well established. Having seen tapestries of comparable size and quality in Urbino last week that were made there (and presumably purchased by the discerning Delle Rovere Dukes), it's not as if Mortlake was incapable of producing suitably grand tapestries for William and Mary. Perhaps the answer lies in these cycles all being diplomatic gifts from the Prince of Orange's Netherlandish peers.

Florence, 12 May 2010 - The Tombs

Saw tombs of Leonardo Bruni and Carlo Marsuppini that face each other across the nave at Santa Croce. Ostensibly very similar, the (otherwise crap) information boards in the church highlight the key difference between the two as being the lack of triumphant symbolism on Marsuppini's, presumably as he presided over a more genteel era (1444-53).

Bruni's tomb does indeed feature several nods to triumph and glory, i.e. Eagles, Lions, Winged Victories, Rampant Lion heraldry surmounting the arch, that are not present in Marsuppini's.

Next visit - must check whether Marsuppini's father's slab really is directly below his son's tomb - I read this (I think) in the Grove Art entry for Settignano.

Separately saw 3 other tombs in San Lorenzo, 2 celebrated, the other not so. Cosimo's brother Giovanni is in the centre of Botticelli and Donatello's old sacristy (tomb designed and made by ????); Piero the Gouty and his brother Giovanni are to one side in Verrocchio's "most beautiful tomb [of the Reniassance]" (San Lorenzo Audio Guide).

This IS amazing, I initially thought it was French Rococo!

Urbino, the Montefeltro and Rimini 6-8 May

This visit was primarily in conjunction with the TMA2 question relating to Joos van Ghent's Communion of the Apostles altarpiece in the Palazzo Ducale, but naturally I picked up some other nuggets that may prove relevant to the ECA along the way:

1) Maso de Bartolommeo's portal for the Dominican church opposite the Palazzo, 1449-54, provides a useful stylistic comparison point for the Bruni (1440s) & Marsuppini (1450s) Santa Croce tombs I'm going to see next week in Florence.

Maso was a Florentine sculptor-mason brought to Urbino to fashion this wonderful Corinthian edifice around the west front of the chiesa, coadiuvato [assisted (?)] by fellow Tuscans Pasquino da Montepulciano and Michele di Giovanni da Fiesole, per the church's information board.

2) Any investigation into early Tudor Italian-English intellectual exchanges (e.g. Henry VII monument; Bishop Fox at Winchester; Layer Marney tombs; Wolsey's HC terracottas) must of course take into account the Urbinate writer and historian Polydor Vergil. I came across this Accademia Raffaello publication whilst there:

PolidoroVergili e la Cultura Umanistica Europea, 2003, ed. by Rolando Bacchielli

which was the fruit of a conference held in 2000 by the academy in Urbino. 50/50 split of Italian/English language papers. BL holds a copy.

3) The Tempio Malatesta in Rimini was mind-blowing! Architectural re-design, facade, and exterior side-tombs by Alberti (1440s) interior sculpture all by Agostino di Duccio (1450s). Again, relevant to any study of mid-quattrocento monumental humanist-inspired sculpture.

Simply amazing!