Complete Description
(Légères usures dans les soies et anciennes restaurations, diminuée en hauteur et en largeur et sans bordure)
A Tournai historical tapestry fragment, depicting a procession of giraffes and zebras, from the History of Portugal and India set, first quarter or mid-16th century
118 ¼ x 70 ¾ in.
Collection particulière, France
This rare and interesting fragment depicts a procession of giraffes and zebras. In the foreground, two female figures seated on a zebra are accompanied by a cortege made up of numerous figures and animals, an association of East and West. Four giraffes move forward to the rhythm of the music (a flute, an oliphant and bells) that enlivens the procession. Threads of gold and shimmering colours convey the sound and echo the exotic nature of the scene.
A similar tapestry can be found in the Musée du Louvre (among three other tapestries from the same group); but that one has more characters, a slightly different composition and a border (Tapisserie de Tournai, Caravane de Girafes et de Zèbres, from the group, L'Histoire du Portugal et de l'Inde, 1510 / 1520, inventory number OAR 62, fig. 1).
Another example, whose whereabouts are currently unknown, can be found on the Corpus page of the Musée du Louvre website. The very mediocre photograph nevertheless reveals our subject, Le Retour de Vasco de Gama, with the presence of the zebra and the parrot (fig. 2).
A fragment of the same scene is today in the collections of the National Museum in Stockholm. We know of at least one other scene from the same group, The Arrival of Vasco da Gama in Calicut (Lisbon, Banco Nacional Ultramarino).
