Tapestry "Triumph of Love"

The large tapestry depicts the ‘Triumph of Love’. In the foreground richly dressed ladies enter from the left, while on the right a lovelorn Cleopatra collapses in a faint. Behind her couples walk arm-in-arm toward a gateway. A chariot drawn by winged horses crosses the sky bearing Venus, goddess of sensual love, accompanied by Cupid. This tapestry is the first in a six-part series created using cartoons from the artistic circle surrounding the painter Bernard van Orley (1491/92–1542). The series uses allegorical images to present the transience of all earthly values. Love, chastity, death, fame, and time conquer each other in their turn, until at the end God’s eternity triumphs over all. Petrarch’s (1304–1374) poem I Trionfi (The Triumphs) served as a model for this series, whose detailed and lively depictions continue to fascinate viewers to this day.