Seventeenth century French tapestry.

French tapestry of the 17th century.
"Moses and the bronze serpent".
Hand-knotted wool.
Measurements: 280 x 375 cm.

Magnificent example of the tapestry art of the Baroque period, a period considered the golden age of this art form in France.

We see represented an episode from the Old Testament, specifically from the Book of Numbers. The scene narrates how the Israelites, punished by God with a plague of poisonous snakes for their complaints in the desert, repent. God orders Moses to forge a bronze serpent and raise it on a pole, promising that "whoever is bitten and looks at it shall live".

The tapestry places at the compositional center the pole (with a Tau cross shape) on which the bronze serpent is coiled. A group of men, including Moses and Aaron, point towards it, indicating the divine solution.

We see in the foreground the drama of the plague. The Israelites are depicted in various attitudes: some are in agony or have died from the bites (like the foreshortened central figure), others (like the woman with the child on the left or the group on the right) look up with despair and hope towards the bronze serpent for healing.

The setting is depicted in an idealized manner, with leafy trees and a landscape in the background, following the pictorial conventions of the time.

This theme was immensely popular in Renaissance and, especially, Baroque painting (with examples by Michelangelo, Rubens, Van Dyck or Tintoretto). The bronze serpent was considered a direct prefiguration of the Crucifixion of Christ.

Therefore, this tapestry functions as a baroque painting. Like the canvases of the period, it uses a dynamic and theatrical composition, with figures in expressive postures, dramatic gestures and a clear narrative approach. The "cardboard" (the life-size design on which the tapestry weaver wove) was undoubtedly the work of an important painter, following the "grand style" that prevailed in France at the time.

The 17th century, especially under the reign of Louis XIV, marked the zenith of French tapestry, which surpassed Flanders as the most important center of production in Europe.

Tapestry was the most luxurious and expensive art form, more valued even than painting. It was a symbol of power, wealth and culture. Louis XIV and his minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert saw tapestries as a propaganda tool to glorify the king and France.

To centralize and control production, Colbert founded royal manufactories. The most important was the Manufacture des Gobelins (founded in 1662), which worked exclusively for the King, furnishing residences such as Versailles. The Manufacture of Beauvais (1664) was also founded to produce high quality tapestries for the nobility and for export. Older workshops, such as Aubusson, also received the title of "Royal Manufactory".

The style was dictated by the great court painters, especially Charles Le Brun, director of the Gobelins. He and other artists created the "cartons" that the weavers translated into thread. The style was French Classicist Baroque: grandiose, narrative, clear and with a sense of order, even in dramatic scenes like this one.