Caption

Figural tapestry, attributed draughtsmanship to Maarten van Heemskerck 1498–1574, unknown provenance. Subject: Semiramis legend — in the centre foreground a woman on horseback surrounded by courtiers hunts a lion; hunting, riders, legendary representation. Background: city buildings with a circular structure Tower of Babel Bible motif. Decoration: borders with acanthus twig motif and medallions containing allegorical representations; floral ornaments and flowers. Materials/technique: woven tapestry / decorative fabric for interior furnishings, weaving. Colors: sand, brown, green, and red. Date: 1680s. Place of origin: Netherlands. Dimensions: height 308 cm, width 300 cm., A large square piece of fabric fills the image, mostly a deep brownish maroon color with slightly darker and lighter variations across its surface; a vertical strip of darker brown runs along the left edge and a narrow lighter-grayish border is visible along the top and right edges. The fabric shows a pattern of subtle stitched arc shapes and faint seam lines creating a quilted appearance, with visible creases and wrinkles throughout. In the lower left corner there is a small rectangular patch of a much lighter color attached to the fabric. The overall scene is evenly lit against a neutral background.

Credit line

Photo12/Liszt Collection

Reference

LZT26A12_122

License type

Rights managed

Available size

101.0Mb (4.2Mb) / 19.6in x 20.0in / 5885 x 6000 (300dpi)

Keywords

Figural tapestry attributed draughtsmanship Maarten van Heemskerck 1498–1574 unknown provenance Subject Semiramis legend centre foreground woman horseback surrounded courtiers hunts lion hunting riders legendary representation Background city buildings circular structure Tower Babel Bible motif Decoration borders acanthus twig motif medallions containing allegorical representations floral ornaments flowers Materials technique woven tapestry decorative fabric interior furnishings weaving Colors sand brown green red Date 1680s Place origin Netherlands Dimensions height 308 cm width 300 cm large square piece fabric fills image mostly deep brownish maroon color slightly darker lighter variations across surface vertical strip darker runs left edge narrow lighter-grayish border visible top right edges fabric pattern subtle stitched arc shapes faint seam lines creating quilted appearance visible creases wrinkles lower left corner small rectangular patch lighter color attached scene evenly lit neutral background.