Willem de pannemaker biography examples

From the museum press release, 12 May 2010

The Museo del Prado will be exhibiting the eight mythological tapestries that comprise the only complete surviving example of this series on the loves of Mercury and Herse, one of the 246 tales recounted in the 15 books of Ovid’s great poem known as the Metamorphoses. For the first time since their dispersion in the early 20th century, the exhibition reunites these eight tapestry panels by Willem de Pannemaker, tapestry-maker and supplier to the royal courts of the Flemish Renaissance.

The exhibition reconstructs the iconographic sequence of Ovid’s tale of the loves of Mercury and Herse, reuniting the eight tapestries on this story made by Pannemaker. The panels are now divided between the private collection of the Fundación Casa Ducal de Medinaceli, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Museo del Prado, all of which own two tapestries each, while the remaining two are in the private collections of the Casa de Alba and the Dukes of Cardona.

As recent research undertaken for the purposes of this exhibition has revealed, from 1603 onwards this series of The wedding of Mercury, woven by Willem de Pannemaker – tapestry-maker and supplier to the royal courts of the Flemish Renaissance – was in the collection of Francisco de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma and favourite of Philip III. Pannemaker’s allegorical/mythological tapestries, whose compositions are heavily indebted to those of Raphael, reveal the Duke’s particular preference for tapestry and for Flemish and Italian art, a taste also manifested in the rest of his collection. With this in mind, the exhibition will also include the Portrait of the Duke of Lerma on horseback by Rubens, also of 1603.

Ovid’s story of love and jealousy, the main protagonists of which are Mercury, Herse and Aglauros, can be followed in the eight panels of this tapestry series. Mercury’s descent to earth, his encounte

The Museo del Prado will be exhibiting the eight mythological tapestries that comprise the only complete surviving example of this series on the loves of Mercury and Herse, one of the 246 tales recounted in the 15 books of Ovid’s great poem known as the Metamorphoses. For the first time since their dispersion in the early 20th century, the exhibition reunites these eight tapestry panels by Willem de Pannemaker, tapestry-maker and supplier to the royal courts of the Flemish Renaissance. Open June 01 – September 26, 2010.

The exhibition reconstructs the iconographic sequence of Ovid’s tale of the loves of Mercury and Herse, reuniting the eight tapestries on this story made by Pannemaker. The panels are now divided between the private collection of the Fundación Casa Ducal de Medinaceli, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Museo del Prado, all of which own two tapestries each, while the remaining two are in the private collections of the Casa de Alba and the Dukes of Cardona.

As recent research undertaken for the purposes of this exhibition has revealed, from 1603 onwards this series of The Wedding of Mercury, woven by Willem de Pannemaker – tapestry-maker and supplier to the royal courts of the Flemish Renaissance – was in the collection of Francisco de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma and favourite of Philip III. Pannemaker’s allegorical/mythological tapestries, whose compositions are heavily indebted to those of Raphael, reveal the Duke’s particular preference for tapestry and for Flemish and Italian art, a taste also manifested in the rest of his collection. With this in mind, the exhibition will also include the Portrait of the Duke of Lerma on Horseback by Rubens, also of 1603.

Ovid’s story of love and jealousy, the main protagonists of which are Mercury, Herse and Aglauros, can be followed in the eight panels of this tapestry series. Mercury’s descent to earth, his encounter with Aglauros, Herse and Pandrosos (daughters of Cecrops, King of

This article was originally published in the CODART eZine, no. 2 Spring 2013

Since the Middle Ages, sets of tapestries – the products of painstaking handiwork involving wool, silk and metal threads – have served to radiate stately grandeur and political aspirations. Owing to their costliness, such wall hangings remained the preserve of the elite, mostly from aristocratic and clerical circles. Signifying dignity and ennoblement, they were temporarily put on display on festive or ceremonial occasions to decorate interiors and sometimes also public spaces.

The over seven hundred tapestries preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) in Vienna constitute one of the largest and most important collections of its kind in the world and bear eloquent witness to the splendor once associated with this textile medium. The core of the Vienna tapestry collection harks back to the House of Habsburg, whose members – like the dukes of Burgundy before them – were among Europe’s most important patrons and lovers of tapestries. In particular, the extraordinary acquisitions of Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) set high standards for the other courts of Europe.

It is almost impossible to unravel the details of the history of the Vienna tapestry collection, owing to the scant reports of their commissions, purchases and often very eventful pasts. One of the earliest testimonies is an inventory drawn up between 1666 and 1679, which primarily lists the subjects of the tapestries and occasionally the names of the designers, manufacturers and previous owners. At the top of the list is one of the most prominent and exceptional sets in the Vienna collec

The Bridal Chamber of Herse, from a set of eight tapestries depicting the Story of Mercury and Herse (detail), ca. 1550. Design attributed to Giovanni Battista Lodi da Cremona (Italian, active 1540–52). Weaving workshop directed by Willem de Pannemaker (Flemish, active Brussels, 1535–78, died 1581). Flemish. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of George Blumenthal, 1941 (41.190.135)

«A riddle, if you will: What type of artwork did Henry VIII love so much that he owned at least 2,500 examples, and Louis XIV and the Medici family value so immensely that they each established their own production workshops?»

Need a hint? They can be made of wool, silk, and sometimes even gold and silver metal-wrapped threads; their designs were prized objects in artists' workshops; Napoleon asked that his favorite portrait be re-created as one; they are among some of Raphael's most important works; and, William Morris, Peter Paul Rubens, and Francois Boucher all created designs for them. They were, without question, among the most expensive pieces of art produced during the Renaissance.

What are these extraordinarily beautiful and important art objects of which we write? Tapestries, of course!

Surprised? Certainly, since very few tapestries survive, it is difficult for us to imagine how they were once an important and ubiquitous presence in many great churches, royal residences, and noble art collections. That's not to say that tapestries were simply background noise. They were, in fact, centerpieces—dynamic components of exquisite interior spaces. Tapestries covered the walls of grand palaces and cathedrals, they ornamented royal garments and liturgical vestments, and they even depicted contemporary events and controversial ideas. They were made to be gazed upon for indefinite amounts of time as the eye slowly took in the mind-boggling amount of exquisite detail and craftsmanship necessary to create such enormous objects (large tapestries, f