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Cecilia Paredes, the Confusion of the Battlefield. a New Perspective On RIHA Journal 0102 | 28 December 2014 The Confusion of the Battlefield. A New Perspective on the Tapestries of the Battle of Pavia (c. 1525-1531 Cecilia Paredes !diting and peer review #anaged $%& Simon Laevers, Royal Institute or !ultural Herita"e #$I$%IR&A', (russels 'eviewers& In"ri) De *e+ter, ,lsje Janssen A$stract This contribution is devoted to the tapestry cycle of the Battle of Pavia conserved at the Museo Capodimonte in Naples. Seven tapestries compose this prestigious tapestry set that commemorates the first military success of Charles V: the battle held in Pavia on ! "ebruary #$ $. %p to no& the tapestries have been interpreted as independent panels representing different episodes of the battle. In this contribution &e &ill sho& that the seven panels actually originated in one single design( &hich &e rediscovered by assembling them in a different se)uence. In fact( the panels provide a description of the battle in a fabulous and uni)ue panoramic landscape: the most monumental siege city vie& ever conceived in the si*teenth century. This discovery not only changes our lecture of the tapestries, but also raises numerous )uestions that should be addressed in future studies. Contents Intro)uction ./e (attle o &avia an) t/e ta0estries From )isor)er to or)er A ne2 0erspective on t/e ta0estries ./e lan)sca0e in t/e relate) )ra2in"s ./e ta0estries o &avia an) t/e icono"ra0/y o t/e battle !onclusions (ntroduction +#, -n the upper floor of the Museo Na.ionale di Capodimonte( located on the heights of Naples, the visitor can lose himself for hours in the contemplation of the seven tapestries that are on permanent display in the /Sala dell0 1ra..i/:# the tapestry set of the Battle of Pavia. This masterpiece is one of the finest tapestry cycles produced by the Brussels &eavers during the si*teenth century. The set &as &oven after #$ 2 and before #$3# in the &or4shop of 5illem and 6an Dermoyen. Its design has traditionally been attributed to Bernard Van -rley 8#!229#$!#:. + , %pon loo4ing at these precious si*teenth9century hangings, one &ill be first captivated by the swarming of the armies, the contrasted and constant moves of the troops from the foreground to the background( from one side to the other. 1 vivid impression of chaos and horror emerges out of simultaneous confrontations depicted in bright colors all over the &alls: assaults of cavalries, skirmishes bet&een enemy infantries, soldiers against # ' &ould li4e to thank 1lessandra ;ullo( Linda Martino and Marina Santucci for their 4ind support for my research during my visit to the Capodimonte Museum in March =# . My thanks also go to "lore Mayvial( &ho helped me find my &ay in the Chevalier Conservation 1rchives 8Paris( Courbevoie:. License: The text of this article is provided under the terms o the Creative Commons License CC-BY%NC-ND 3.08 RIHA Journal 0102 | 28 December 2014 riders, close9)uarter struggles, as &ell as retreats, military debacles or the flight of the army baggage train. The narrative lu*uriance of the precious &all hangings, /mobile frescoes from the north/( as they have been called( usually makes such an over&helming impression that it is difficult at first sight to find your &ay in the battle. +3, In this contribution( &e propose to stand back from past analyses and observe the tapestries from a ne& perspective. %p to no& the tapestries have been interpreted as independent panels representing different episodes of the battle. 5e &ill sho& that the seven panels actually originated in one single design. They in fact provide a description of the battle in a fabulous and uni)ue panoramic landscape &hich &e rediscovered by assembling the pieces in a different se)uence. 9to0: The Battle of Pavia and the tapestries +!, The Battle of Pavia held on ! "ebruary #$ $ &as a decisive episode of the Italian 5ars in the climax of the conflicts bet&een Charles V and "rancis I as they vied for hegemony in >urope. "rench and Imperial armed forces fought each other in the north of Italy. 1t the time( Pavia( &hich supported the Imperial side( had taken in a Spanish garrison led by the Du4e of <eyva. The city had been besieged by the "rench army for almost four months &hen the besiegers &ere in turn assailed by a large formation of the Imperial army sent to the rescue. The battle only lasted a couple of hours and ended &ith une*pected and major conse)uences: the arrest of the @ing of "rance and the slaughter of a large part of the "rench nobility. The event &as perceived as a military disaster by the "rench. -n the Aabsburgs' side( the battle B Charles V0s first military victory B &as praised in all 4inds of media, principally engravings and a fe& paintings.3 1s a component of magnificent princely displays( the tapestries of the Battle of Pavia contributed to the praise of the Imperial victory to a social elite: the imperial courtly audience. The tapestry cycle of the Museo di Capodimonte &as formerly part of the Imperial Aabsburg collections.! It &as li4ely the set presented and offered by the States Ceneral to the >mperor Charles V on March #$3# in his royal palace in Brussels.$ Aanded do&n "or a detailed description of the Battle of Pavia, first see Luigi Casali and Marco Calandra( /Pavia nelle vicende militari d0'talia dalla fine del secolo DV e la battaglia del ! febbraio #$ $(/ in: Storia di Pavia, Banca Regionale Europea( Pavia #EE!( ''( !=9F=. 1lso see 1ngus @onstam( Pavia 1525, The Climax of Italian ar! "# $!pre% militar% campaign !erie! &&'( -*ford #EEG. 3 -n contemporary representations of the Battle of Pavia in its cultural conte*t( see: Pia ". Cuneo( (rt and politic! in earl% modern )ermany* +,rg Breu the Elder and the fashioning of political identit%, ca. 1&.5/1501( Leiden #EE2( #3#9#33. 1 list of the major depictions of the battle can be dra&n up on the basis of the follo&ing contributions: Timothy Wilson, The Battle of Pavia( -*ford ==3( G9FH 'an Buchanan, /The 0Battle of Pavia' and the tapestry collection of 7on Carlos: ne& documentation,/ in: Burlington 2agazine #!!( ##E# 86une == :( 3 #H 6ohn ;. Aale( (rti!t! and arfare in the Renai!!ance( Iale #EE=( #2!9#E#. ! Buchanan( /The 0Battle of Pavia' and the tapestry collection of 7on Carlos: ne& documentation"( 3!$93$#. $ /Ten selven tyde is ooc4 in deliberatie gestelt( ende gelyc4 het schynt ooc4 geconsenteert( dat men den 4eyser soude beschinc4 met se4ere tapisserye die te Bruessel &as gemaec4t op den slach van Pavie( +J,/ 81rchives gKnérales du ;oyaume( Regi!tre de! R4!olutions de! Etat! de Brabant!, License: The text of this article is provided under the terms o the Creative Commons License CC-BY%NC-ND 3.08 RIHA Journal 0102 | 28 December 2014 through the subse)uent generations B including through donations and sales B( by the end of the nineteenth century the tapestries became the property of the heirs of the Mar)uis d01valos, one of the protagonists of the battle. "rom then on( the tapestry set has been traced until its entrance into the collection of the National Museum of Naples at the end of the nineteenth century. +$, The set is composed of seven pieces &hich measure from eight to nine meters in &idth and are around four meters thirty high. 1rchive documents indicate that t&o sets of the Battle of Pavia &ere presumably made by #$33.G The designs must have been conducted bet&een #$ $ and #$ 2.F 1t the time( the tapestry &or4shops of Brussels &ere internationally reno&ned and "lemish artists &ere speciali.ed in conferring their skills as portraitists or landscape painters to the monumental scale of the medium. Bernard Van -rley &as then the leader of a prolific cartoon &or4shop established in Brussels and &hich employed numerous specialists. 1t the time he &as involved in this commission( the "lemish master &as a court painter for Margaret of 1ustria, aunt of the young Charles V and governess of the <o& Countries &ho died in #$3=.2 Seven large9scale dra&ings related to the series are conserved in the <ouvre.E 9to0: )ro# disorder to order +G, Since the rediscovery of the pieces in the collection of Mar)uis Tommaso d01valos, soon follo&ed by their entrance in the collection of the National Museum of Naples in #2G ( the tapestries have captivated the attention of scholars. 5hile the first major contributions &ere mainly concerned &ith style study for attributing the compositions, the aim of the tapestries as political propaganda and the origin of the pieces have been discussed more recently.#= 1s the tapestries do not carry the captions that usually e*plain the sub?ect intitul4 Root/5oec6( ##EL#G( fol. EE:( )uoted from Louis Prosper Cachard( /1rticles originaux des anciennes assemblKes nationales en Belgi)ue(/ in: Revue de Bruxelle! 3 8-ctober #23E:( 3393!. G The mar4 of the &eaver that appears in one of the tapestries has been identified as Willem and 6an 7ermoyen's. "or more information on this topic( see 'an Buchanan's notice in: Thomas Campbell( Tape!tr% in the Renai!!ance* (rt and 2agnificence( e*h. cat.( Ne& Ior4 == ( 3 2 and Cuy 7elmarcel in: 1rnout Balis et al.( Le! Chas!e! de 2aximilien( Paris #EE3( 3E9!3. 1 duplicate of at least one of the tapestries must have e*isted since( in a #$33 document( Willem 7ermoyen agreed to supply merchants 6an van der 5alle and 6acob ;ehlinger &ith pieces of the Battle of Pavia and the Aunts of Maximilian, &hich &ere to be offered for sale to Sultan Süleyman.
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