Renaissance Splendor: Catherine de’ Medici’s Valois Tapestries

On view for the first time in North America, the recently restored Valois Tapestries, a unique set of 16th-century hangings, are unveiled. These fascinating and enigmatic tapestries were commissioned by Catherine de’ Medici, the indomitable queen mother of France, to celebrate the royal Valois dynasty against a backdrop of great political strife and social upheaval. Soon after their creation in Brussels, the eight room-sized hangings accompanied Catherine’s granddaughter, Christina of Lorraine, when the young princess traveled to the Medici court in Florence as the bride of Ferdinand I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Woven with wool, silk, and precious metal-wrapped threads, the tapestries are rich in both their materials and intricate subject matter. Life-size, full-length portraits of the French king, princes, and princesses, situated prominently in the foreground, lock eyes with the viewer and present detailed scenes of court pageants and festivities. 

Juxtaposing the tapestries with paintings, drawings, and exquisite art objects of the period, Renaissance Splendor: Catherine de’ Medici’s Valois Tapestries introduces the colorful and sometimes infamous characters associated with the hangings, and it explores the tapestries’ role as an artistic and political statement involving two of the most powerful European dynasties of the Renaissance—the Valois and the Medici—and their respective power bases in Paris and Florence. 

Among the most admired, ambitious, and costly artistic endeavors of their time, the Valois Tapestries embody the pageantry, splendor, and political intrigue of Renaissance Europe.

Watch the restoration process.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.  

Image: Elephant, from the Valois Tapestries, c. 1576. Woven under the direction of Master MGP, Brussels. Wool, silk, silver and gilded silver metal-wrapped thread; 382.5 x 468 cm. Gallerie degli Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, deposit, Florence, Arazzi n. 474. Photo: Roberto Palermo

Whether or not you go, the companion publicatio, Renaissance Splendor: Catherine de’ Medici’s Valois Tapestries, presents new research into the political maneuvering of the Valois and Medici courts and providing extensive physical analysis gathered during a recent cleaning of the tapestriesoffering brand new insight into why these magnificent works were made and what they represent. Featuring detailed scenes of court pageantry and life-size portraits of members of the French Valois dynasty woven in wool, silk, and precious metal-wrapped threads, the Valois Tapestries are one of the most extravagant sets of hangings produced in the 16th century. The precise circumstances surrounding the tapestries’ commission and their arrival at the Medici court in Florence, as well as the significance of the specific scenes depicted, however, have eluded scholars for years.

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