Art & Architecture
article | Reading time2 min
Explore the Centre des Monuments Nationaux’s tapestry collection online and immerse yourself in one of the richest in France, with nearly 440 pieces!
The collection in a nutshell
Religious, mythological, historical, literary, hunting, heraldic, exotic or simply decorative scenes in the form of ‘verdures’… A wide range of themes awaits you through the tapestries preserved in our monuments!
For example, the Centre des monuments nationaux presents the Tapestry of the Apocalypse at Angers Castle, the Tapestry of the Life of the Virgin at the Palais du Tau in Reims,the Story of Tancred and Clorinda at Châteaudun Castle, and nearly a hundred other tapestries woven between the 14th and 19th centuries.
This collection is divided into two groups: 220 tapestries are the result of acquisitions or donations received by the Centre des monuments nationaux since 1914; the other 220 tapestries comprise items on loan from the Mobilier national, the DRACs or national museums.
Three must-see works
Penthesilea is depicted as a warrior, armed from head to toe, on a tapestry belonging to the collection of the Château d’Angers. This ‘mille-fleurs’ tapestry, dating from the early 16th century, reflects the popularity of the theme of the Nine Valiant Women in the late Middle Ages. These female warrior figures are the counterparts to their male counterparts, the Nine Valiant Men. The Valiant Men and Women evoke, with a certain nostalgia, a chivalric world whose military reality at the time was turning everything upside down.
© Benjamin Gavaudo, Centre des Monuments Nationaux
This seventeen-panel choir screen tells the story of Clovis and retains almost all of its original elements. They bear the chapter’s coat of arms quartered with those of the archbishop and the Church of Reims, Robert de Lenoncourt, who donated them in 1530. The cartoons are attributed to Gauthier de Campes, a Flemish painter active in Paris, where he is documented between 1500 and 1530. The place of weaving is unclear (Arras, Tournai, Reims or Paris). The iconography depicts the Tree of Jesse and the soothsayer Balaam accompanying the birth of Mary, of whom they are prefigurations.
© Pascal Lemaître, Centre des Monuments Nationaux
The tapestry depicting ‘Illustrious Women of Antiquity’, acquired by the State for the Château de Châteaudun in 1992, is thought to have been woven by the Royal Manufactory of Aubusson in the 1670s–1680s, based on designs by Charles Poerson, a painter associated with Simon Vouet. These six tapestries highlight iconic female figures from ancient history, chosen for their capacity for love, their wisdom or their heroism.
© Patrick Müller / Centre des Monuments Nationaux
Online
Explore the tapestries of the Centre des monuments nationaux via the “Collectio” database!
The tapestries on display are taken from the ‘Collectio’ inventory and management database, which helps to share knowledge about the collections held at 76 sites.
The subject file
