Álvaro Vega I Córdoba, (EFE).- An investigation carried out within the working group that catalogs the collections of the Viana Palace in Córdoba has made it possible to redefine the meaning of one of the three tapestries from the Trojan War series that They are preserved in the monument, made in Brussels in the third third of the 16th century.
It has also been possible to specify some mythological scenes that were initially wrongly attributed. And make a new identification proposal for some characters that were not assigned.
Alfonso Prieto has been a geriatric doctor for decades. So many that he is now retired early and is only dedicated to his private practice, after having abandoned his activity as a company doctor. But he also has a degree in Art History and Geography and History.
He is the prototype of a member of the working group, around ten of them, who spends part of his free time cataloging some of the around 3,000 pieces that the Viana Palace, property of the Cajasur Foundation, has without analyzing in depth, under the coordination of Francisco Manuel Carmona Carmona, doctor in Art History and professor-tutor at the Associated Center of the UNED of Córdoba.
One year of research
He has dedicated between ten and twelve months to the three tapestries from the Trojan War series that are exhibited in the crafts room of Viana to conclude that the order attributed until now was erroneous. Because it was believed that it narrated Paris’s explanations before Priam and his Council. Specifically due to the result of the expedition to Greece, justifying the kidnapping of Helena. Reason why it was listed as ‘Paris justifies his behavior before Priam’.
“The tapestries represent the prolegomena of the Trojan War, what was the mythological cause of it. And they are based on certain iconographic antecedents of tapestries woven in the 15th century, in Tournaiy. And also in some medieval works, such as the Roman de Troie. While his study has made it possible to modify what one of them was thought to represent,” the author of the work, Alfonso Prieto, tells EFE.
Now, “the scene is identified as the Assembly that we have described that takes place upon the return of the diplomatic mission from Anténor.” The conclusion that “it represents a scene earlier than the one it was thought to represent” is reached after a long study process in which “numerous bibliographies and numerous iconographic antecedents had to be reviewed to proceed with the identification.”
This has also allowed us to make a proposal for identification of the “many characters who were not identified in the tapestries.”
The role of tapestries
Prieto assures that “tapestries played a very important role in the late Middle Ages and in the Modern Age, which is what concerns us in this case, due to the great value they had both for the materials used and the amount of time needed for its execution.”
For its exhibition it was necessary “to have large rooms, given their size, only existing in the palaces and castles of the time. Well, it was something that only the very rich and powerful could possess.”
But, in any case, “they had several functions. They fulfilled a practical function, protecting from cold and humidity. Also a decorative function, making palatial interiors more sumptuous. In addition to a propaganda function, a policy as an expression of power, of magnificence, would be expressing the power of its possessor. Also a didactic narrative function, since, being part of series or cycles, they allowed episodes of both historical and mythological, as is the case, or religious type to be narrated.
And although their owners were from the upper class, “they were also part of the decoration architectures, the ephemeral architectures that were set up on the occasion of great civil or religious solemnities. Like it could be the entry of a king into a city or the celebration of Corpus Christi, so the whole town saw it.”
Pedagogy and morality
Hence, says this doctor trained in the study of art and history, that “logically they had a pedagogical and moralizing function, which is why in the case of this series, for example, where various infidelities and the consequences of those infidelities are narrated , was probably aimed at warning of the risks of infidelity and the need to act with prudence, which is also represented in the tapestries.”
The provenance of this series of three tapestries has not been documented. It is believed that they could reach the Viana Palace in Córdoba from its namesake in Madrid, like another series of tapestries, the Indies of the Gobelins (tapestry made in the Manufacture Royale des Gobelins in Paris), of which there is evidence that He left the capital of the kingdom after the sale of the Madrid property to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
What there is no doubt about is that “all three have the Bravante Brussels brand” and the signature of an artisan whose existing identity you doubt, and that “there was a time when, contrary to what is believed, the tapestry was more appreciated than the painting itself, because in the era in which we live, works were often valued more for their material value than for their artistic value. And since they have a high material value, they were even more appreciated than painting.” EFE
