RAPHAEL: REVOLUTION IN TAPESTRY DESIGN

In 1515, Pope Leo X commissioned the Italian painter Raffaello Sanzio (14831520), now generally known as Raphael in English, to make the cartoons for a series of ten tapestries with scenes from the lives of Saints Peter and Paul. This commission played an instrumental part in the stylistic development of the Flemish tapestries, a marvellous illustration of princely splendour in the sixteenth century. Under Habsburg rule, Brussels soon emerged as a leading manufactory for exquisite products. Raphaels designs are among the most successf...[Read more]