Textile Splendour

Textiles were the most expensive form of contemporary items in castles and palaces. Woven tapestries are sometimes called mobile frescoes. The best artistic quality and workmanship was executed in the 1400–1500s. Many cities, such as Arras, Tournais, Mechelen, and Brussels, displayed great skill.

Tapestries and other precious textiles played a major role during feasts and receptions. The tapestries were a sign of the owner’s power and wealth.

The tapestry, The return of Vasco da Gama, is part of a precious tapestry suite – The journey to Calcutta, ordered by King Manuel I of Portugal in 1499 to commemorate Vasco da Gama’s (1460s–1524) discovery of the sea route between Europe and India. The journey 1497-1499 was an important event for trade. The tapestry depicts a pageant with giraffes, musicians, soldiers and noblewomen. The man to the right, with a beard and a spear, is probably Vasco da Gama.

Narrative Ceramics
Maiolica is earthenware glazed with tin. In the 16th century, maiolica objects from the city of Urbino in Italy were especially sought after. The allover pictorial decoration is known as istoriato painting. It illustrates moral tales from the Bible or Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The Nationalmuseum’s collection from Urbino was among the spoils seized from Prague in 1648. Queen Kristina took many pieces with her when she abdicated, but there are still around a hundred left at the Museum.

The décor of this vase is purely decorative with billowing waves and fanciful figures from the ancient world of images. The men are sea centaurs and tritons, and the women are human. The handles are shaped like winged female bodies, and dolphins are swimming in the water.

Portraits

Portraits, in the modern sense of the word, were a novelty during the Renaissance. It is a picture which, through physical similarity or attributes, represents an identifiable person, who has existed. The portrait should be produced during the lifetime or shortly after the death of the depicted person.

There was an increased interest in the individual in 1300s and 1400s Italy, as well as a need for images of people from society’s cultural and economic elite. A similar development occurred in Western and Northern Europe, for example in Sweden during the Vasa period.


This portrait shows Princess Isabella de’ Medici on her engagement, at the age of eleven, to Paolo Giordano Orsini. They were married in 1558. She received a classical humanist education, which was only available to women from the highest echelons of society. The dark background brings out her pale complexion, expressive eyes and fine features. The cornucopia earrings are a reference to fertility.

Rudolf II the Collector

The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II (1552–1612), created a thriving court in Prague. He brought in scientists like Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, and artists such as Arcimboldo and Adriaen de Vries.

Rudolf II built an outstanding Kunst- und Wunderkammer, an art collection consisting of amazing natural objects and works of art. Many of these items can be found in Sweden today, as they were taken as war trophies by the Swedes in 1648.

The Equestrian statues had as their model the bronze sculpture of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitol in Rome, the only one from antiquity to have been preserved. Giambologna’s statuette is a reduction of his monument to Cosimo the Great in Florence, but the facial features are reminiscent of Emperor Rudolf II. The sculpture was probably taken as war booty from Prague in 1648 and later entered the collection of the royal councillor Claes Fleming.

War Trophies

The taking of war trophies was a part of warfare and compensated for the costs of war. Often the items were included in peace treaties. At the same time, it was a symbolic act in order to humiliate the enemy. During the latter part of the Thirty Years War, it became more common for the commanders to help themselves. The war loot from Rudolf II’s art chamber in Prague in 1648 was extensive. The art has since become a part of the Swedish cultural heritage, and has partly shaped our view of the Renaissance.

Bronze horses were very popular in the 1500s and 1600s. They were produced more or less in series in the most important workshops on the continent. However, this sculpture is larger and differs from the most common types. It was probably in Emperor Rudolf II’s collections in Prague. Perhaps Adriaen de Vries has depicted one of the emperor’s real horses. The sculpture was included in Queen Kristina’s collections.

The Vasa Dynasty

Gustav Vasa seized power in 1521 and was proclaimed king two years later. He was aware of the importance of art, which was expressed in diligent building. In an inventory from Gripsholm Castle in 1529, several paintings are mentioned, the earliest Swedish art collection.

The King’s sons, Erik XIV, Johan III and Karl IX, were raised according to Renaissance ideals, to a combination of men of power and classically educated aesthetes. During their reigns, architecture, portraiture and applied art were encouraged. Models were found in Denmark, the German states and the Netherlands.


Gustav Vasa is represented here as a prince by the grace of God, as the inscription suggests: “Saviour of the world, assist us”. The sword by the king’s side and the crown above his head are clear symbols of power. The costly, modern costume also communicates his position. In the mid 16th century there were no Swedish artists capable of producing a portrait of this quality. The sculptor was probably Willem Boy, who came to Sweden from Flanders in 1558.

Religion

The Protestant reformer Martin Luther questioned the basic theses of the Catholic Church, for example, that believers could obtain forgiveness and grace of sins through penance and letters of indulgence. They also questioned the role of the Church as intermediary between man and God. Instead, the Word, church services with sermons in the vernacular, and justification by faith should be the focus.

The Lutheran Church also took art in its service. The artist Lucas Cranach the elder was close to Luther. His paintings of scenes from the New Testament were perfect for Protestant kings like Gustav Vasa.

Cranach’s portrait of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora spread through copies. They have played a decisive role in the perception of the church reformer as harsh, humourless and aloof. However, according to contemporary sources, Luther was well aware of this world and had a drastic sense of humour, while being a profound believer and a learned theologian. The portrait of Luther carries Cranach’s signature, a winged dragon.

Antiquity and Mythology

From the 1400s, there was a growing interest in literature, philosophy and the art of ancient Greece and Rome. A number of ancient writers and texts, such as Pliny the Elder, Vergil, Homer and Ovid, provided artists and clients with ideas for topics.

Manuals surviving from late antiquity and the Middle Ages also provided detailed information about the attributes and characteristics of the gods. These manuals and texts were spread using the new art of book printing. Skilled artists could relate more or less freely to the originals.

The messenger Mercury, one of the Olympian gods, carries a herald’s staff and wears a winged helmet and sandals. This painting probably adorned the case of an astronomical clock, with Mercury symbolising one of the seven celestial bodies of ancient cosmology that were held to influence human character. The lion contemplating its reflektion could represent the choleric temperament, and perhaps also the astrological sign of Gemini. The elongated proportions are typical of 16th-century Mannerist painting.

What was new? Glass Art

Venice was a centre in European trade from the early Middle Ages. Precious objects arrived from China, India, Persia and Byzantium, and spread to the rest of Europe. The shapes and techniques inspired Venetian glass production. The art of glass making came through Damascus and Constantinople. Because of the risk of fire, the glassworks moved to the island of Murano in the 1200s. The glass export was very important to the Venetian economy.

The vase is made using a technique called filigree glass. It was a novelty in the 1500s. Thin threads of white glass was melted, with great skill, into the clear glass forming patterns but without creating a relief. The technique was developed by the brothers Filippo and Bernardo Serena in 1527 on the island of Murano, outside Venice.

What was new? Furniture Art

During the Italian Renaissance, chests were common in noble homes. It was used both as storage and as seating, and often had the form of an antique sarcophagus with lion paws.

But less rustic, freestanding furniture was also desired. The armchair, with its hierarchical symbolic value, was used by the master of the house or by prominent guests. In Sweden, freestanding furniture was not common until the end of the century.

Folding chairs originated in antiquity. In noble Italian households, they had carved décor and expensive textile covers. From Italy, the furniture type spread North in the 1500s. But the Northern European chairs couldn’t always be folded. In this specimen, the back pad stabilizes the construction.

What was new? Precious Time

The first mechanical clocks were developed in the late 1200s. They had spindles, were powered by weights, and placed high up for the weights travel down. The clocks were used in church towers and town halls. They were prestige symbols representing the cities’ status and success. In the late 1400s, technology was refined and the weights could be replaced by a steel spring. It provided opportunities for the use of smaller watches, even for traveling.

In the early 16th century, clock mechanisms were refined by the replacement of weights with steel springs. This also enabled smaller clocks to be made for domestic settings. Gilt-metal table clocks with engraved decoration became status symbols. The earliest examples had only an hour hand, but this one also features a compass and sundial on the underside to show the exact time. Steffen Brenner was a court clockmaker to Frederick II of Denmark, and also made clocks for the astronomer Tycho Brahe.