The vegetable harvest, Lille Teniers series

The five tapestries preserved in the room are among the most precious of the Quirinale. They have as their subject some moments of life in the countryside, depicted against the backdrop of vast landscapes. The borders are in tune with the rural subjects, showing a rich repertoire of work tools, animals courtyard, vegetables, musical instruments. Some of the five cloths bear the signature of the Flemish tapestry maker Guillaume Werniers, while the patterns for the tapestries were taken from works by the Flemish painter David II Teniers, famous for his paintings depicting episodes of rural life in an idealized version. In this cloth the scene, set on a hill overlooking the valley with a castle, shows some peasants around the basket overflowing with vegetables on the wheelbarrow, including a girl with a basket of flowers. The border is adorned with work tools, musical instruments, courtyard animals and plants. The tapestry is part of one of the most valuable series of the Quirinale with episodes of rural life, acquired by Filippo di Borbone, Duke of Parma, in which the realism of the natural details, typically Flemish, approaches the idealized landscape backdrops and the calm poses of the figures, of French taste.