Courting Couple

Tapestries that weren't as heavily altered or repaired were hung in the most visible spaces in the Holly and Yellow Bedrooms, where they could be seen from the rooms' beds. This is a view of the 'Hunter' and 'Courting Couple' tapestries from the Holly Bedroom bed. Like the other tapestries in this room, these show figures relaxing in countryside settings. The figures in the 'Courting Couple' tapestry are modelled on a 1648-49 French engraving of the Duke of Beaufort paying homage to Anne of Austria, Queen Regent to the young King Louis XIV of France. Here, the weavers have reimagined the Queen and Duke as a young couple meeting in woodland, surrounded by lush vegetation and peacocks. The woman's dress and the man's trousers and coat were once a rich peach colour with yellow highlights woven in silk giving a hint that the couple's clothes were trimmed in gold. Sadly the colours have faded to brown through years of exposure to sunlight.