The Amboise Tapestry
What do we know about The Amboise Tapestry?
We know that in 1533, François I gave the magnificent silk tapestry to Pope Clement VII to mark the marriage of his son Henry to the Pope’s niece, Catherine de Medici.
We know that the tapestry, a beautiful tapestry, a masterpiece woven in gold and silver, is a full scale, faithful reproduction of Leonardo’s Last Supper which somehow, miraculously, even manages to capture Leonardo's sfumato (which he said means in the manner of smoke).
We know that it was restored, not quite to its original glory (five centuries have faded some of the colours) with the support of Château Clos Lucé in Amboise.
To mark the fifth centenary of Leonardo’s death in 1519, the Vatican loaned it to the Château to be exhibited to the public. This was the first time in 500 years it had been seen outside the Vatican and Italian Museums. The trust the Vatican had in Château Clos Lucé is to be amazed at, as is the thought of what it cost to insure it.
The Museum Hall, Château du Clos Lucé
In 2019, thanks to the Château, people from all over the world who will never get to see the famous painting in the flesh so to speak were treated to the next best thing. Those of us who were lucky enough to see it are privileged and grateful. The Amboise Tapestry is so beautiful, you can’t help wondering how François could bear to part with it.
That Raphael was commissioned to make the tapestry is not in doubt. Raphael was one of the King’s favourite artists. He owned quite a few of his paintings (now in the Louvre) but above all other works of art, he desired Leonardo’s Last Supper.
When he returned from Milan he raved over the Last Supper in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo’s first biographer, said the king wanted it for France so tried to take it off the wall. Some sources say Leonardo helped him.
As there are no documents, that’s about all we do know of it for sure.
No-one knows for sure whether it was François who commissioned the Tapestry or his mother Louise of Savoy. Emblems woven into the border are symbols of the Queen and her son. What is known is that she indulged his every whim and denied him nothing. What her son wanted, her son got. It may well be she had it made as a present. The nearest thing to the original she could get for him was a tapestry.
No-one even knows for sure whether it was designed by Raphael who was nearing the end of his life when the tapestry was made. The consensus is that Raphael made a copy of the original and handed it over to his pupils to complete.
That it came from Flanders is not in doubt but one knows for sure where, exactly, it was woven. The consensus is that it was from Pieter Van Aelst's Workshop in Brussels.
No-one knows for sure who made it. The consensus is that it was woven by an artist from Lombardy.
No-one even knows for sure when it was commissioned either.
Some sources say before 1514 but Alessandra Rodolfo, who spent almost two years of her life supervising its restoration in the Vatican Museums Tapestries and Textiles Restoration Laboratory, thinks that it could have been made in 1516 when Leonardo was living in Château Clos Lucé.
Wouldn’t that be something? That Leonardo might have seen a reproduction in a gold and silver tapestry of his seminal work of art.
Post by Pamela, photography by Mark.
