Arnout Balis

Having been quite taken by "les Chasses de Maximilien", or "The Hunts of Maximilian," tapestries at the Louvre, which date from the late medieval/early Renaissance, I picked up this monograph primarily to be able to look at them again over time.
Having just now read these scholarly essays--okay, twelve years later--I discovered unexpected and interesting information that had not been presented at the museum. For example, during the flourishing of Belgian tapestry at this time, the Medici sent their own artist(s) to witness, and to contribute to, the tapestry making. The Medici influence is seen in the increased spacial depth in the hunting scenes--which, combined with the famous Belgian tradition of pictorial realism--elevated this series to an artistic peak. Also, the new kinds of threads used in weaving at that time, including gold and silver, added textural richness which, unfortunately, isn't captured in the photos.
Another unexpected discovery in this monograph is that "les Chasses de Maximilien" is not the 'exact' subject of the series; it more correctly could be called 'the nobility's leisure pastimes in the Holy Roman Empire'--indeed the Holy Roman Emperor is seen in the fifth tapestry--, which would more accurately identify it as complementing another famous tapestry grouping from this time which depicts 'the military successes of the Holy Roman Empire' and to show that it was most likely meant as a 'challenge" to the other (known) great empire of the time, the Ottoman Empire.… (mer)