Chateau de Chaumont Tapestry Set
Chateau de Chaumont Tapestry Set, France, early 16th century 1500-1510
The Chaumont tapestries are admired for their specific range of bright colors. The unidentified designer worked in a conservative style which ignored pictorial innovations for depicting space and mass. The figures, for example, appear placed onto, rather than integrated into, the tipped-up shallow landscapes, covered with blossoming plants, or millefleurs. The tapestries hung in the Chateau de Chaumont in the Loire Valley and may have been commissioned by Charles II d'Amboise (died 1511), who built much of the existing castle, presumably represented in Youth and Time. The triumph of Eternity is represented by the Coronation of the Virgin. Wearing an opulent brocaded velvet shawl, the Virgin is seated in the center as two angels hold a crown over her head. She is surrounded by five angels who play an organ, recorder, straight cornetto, harp, and lute, while another sings from an open music book. The Latin verse states that eternity triumphs: Nothing triumphing by due authority Remains permanent and durable. Nothing is permanent under the heavens, But above, eternity triumphs. 
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