Flemish ranks the most luxurious tapestry among and skillful textile traditions in the world. At the height of their popularity, these sumptuous decorative panels were in overwhelming demand from wealthy and royal patrons for whom the tapestries represented the height of luxury and prestige. This lush volume is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of Flemish tapestry history, spanning the 15th century to shortly before the French Revolution. Guy Delmarcel, a Belgian expert in Flemish textiles, covers every aspect of the design and production of these treasures. The wealth of illustrations includes famous and never-before-published tapestries and many close-up details, as well as a number of complete sets of tapestry panels. An impeccably researched reference work that will be of enormous value to tapestry collectors, dealers, and scholars, this gorgeous, volume will also provide hours upon hours of browsing pleasure for art lovers.

Thirteen specialists on the history of tapestry offer a detailed survey of the lives and works of the Flemish weavers and of their relations with foreign patrons and artists.

Tapestries--the art form of kings--were a principal tool used by powerful Renaissance rulers to convey their wealth and might. From 1460 to 1560, courts and churches lavished vast sums on costly weavings in silk and gold thread from designs by leading artists. In this lavishly illustrated book, the first major survey of tapestry production of this period, contributors analyze some of these & beautiful tapestries, examine the stylistic and technical development of tapestry production in the Low Countries, France, and Italy during the Renaissance, and discuss the contribution that the medium made to art, liturgy, and propaganda of the day.

Professor Dr Guy Delmarcel was Curator of Textiles at the Brussels Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis (1975-1990) and Professor of History of Art at the Catholic University of Leuven (1981-2002). He passionately devoted his career to the study of Flemish tapestry. His intensive research on the 'Mobile Frescoes of the North' resulted in numerous articles, books, lectures, and exhibitions, thereby unlocking tapestry to both scholars and the general public. Guy Delmarcel has now been given emeritus status. The Department of Archaeology, History of Art and Musicology decided to honour its former chairman by offering him a Festschrift entirely dedicated to his beloved field of research. Fourteen renowned tapestry scholars from all over the world willingly accepted the invitation to celebrate their esteemed colleague. Throughout the centuries Flemish tapestry has eagerly been collected. In the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times the European elite spent fortunes on these lavish works of art. A number of essays compiled in the present volume focus on the patronage and collections of European kings and noblemen. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries European and American museums became important collectors of Flemish tapestry, as is demonstrated by some museological studies presented in Studies in Honour of Guy Delmarcel. This penetration by Flemish tapestry of the public realm has obviously necessitated iconographic and stylistic studies. A number of new analyses are gathered in the Festschrift.

Exhibition of the nine tapestries woven for the coronation of Charles V at Aachen in 1520.