Flemish Tapestries of the 16^th to 18^th Century
from the Toms Pauli Foundation

Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne (Switzerland)
24 September 2004 to 9 January 2005
Prestige objects and symbols of wealth, tapestries enjoyed the esteem of the greatest patrons. Not so well known today, they deserve to be re-evaluated.
Flemish workshops dominated the tapestry world for centuries and elevated it into a major art form. Inspired by mythology, ancient history and the Bible, the subjects depicted on tapestries testify to their great variety. The Flemish workshops were known for the technical skill which permitted them to transpose into wool and silk the complexity of the drawings and the immense range of colours conceived by painters. Rarely designed in isolation as individual pieces, the tapestries formed sets, series of hangings recounting different episodes of a story. This exhibition permitted visitors to examine a number of subjects belonging to the same series, side by side. The presence of works of very large format demonstrated the monumental aspect of this art, as well as its importance as wall decoration.

« Pour un peu, on dirait qu’il y a bal à la cour…[..] Car jamais encore le Musée des beaux-arts n’était apparu ainsi : comme un lieu d’apparat drapé de prestige aristocratique, de laine et de soie qui chatoient dans un éclairage théâtral sur fond de pénombre insolite. » F. Jaunin, 24 Heures, 29.09.2004