Tapestry Dragon Fighting a Panther

Among the tapestries ordered by King Sigismund Augustus and made in Brussels in around 1550-1560, animalistic motifs are present in several series, both in biblical fabrics, as well as in verdures or grotesques.

Winged dragons, fantastical hybrids (snake, reptile and bat compilations) appear in the Acts of Noah series and they are trying to get to the ark in large numbers. The main role and place is taken by the dragon in one of the most recognisable verdures from the royal collection. The large fabric, almost square in size, depicts the struggle of two powerful animals – a huge dragon and an agile panther with spotted hair. The dragon dominates this duel, if only by the effect of its large, widely spread bat wings, covered with membranous skin with rainbow patterns. Behind it, on the slope of the overhang, there are three small wyrmlings, which this fantastical ‘parent’ seems to be protecting.

The dragon-panther fight is interpreted as a conflict of good and evil, an image of the eternal dualism in nature and in the sphere of the spirit. In the Latin tradition, the dragon has always been an unambiguous ‘icon’ of evil. The panther, in zoological terms belonging to predators, here turns out to be unexpectedly the embodiment of positive features, and even a symbol of Christ. It owes it to early Christian records, contained in collections of legends and pseudo-scientific texts on nature, called Physiologists. They say that young panthers are born dead and come to life only after three days, which for mediaeval exegetes was a parallel to the resurrection of Christ. On the other hand, the malevolent and destructive identity of the dragon is softened by the theme of parental care for the young contained in this scene. A dangerous individual appears here as a protector of his offspring. This ambivalence may be a testimony to the typically Renaissance discursive thinking about the laws of nature and moral laws.

Regardless of the hidden meanings, the tapestry – extremely visually attractive – justifies one of the names given in sixteenth-century sources to Zygmunt's verdures, referred to as pugnae ferrarum (beast fights). This term, however, refers to only a small part of the Wawel landscape tapestry complex with animals. The tapestry was made by an unidentified Brussels weaver, who is commonly referred to as the Master of the sign ‘with a loop’.