Flemish tapestry. Brussels, 17th century.

Flemish tapestry. Brussels, 17th century.
"Popular party or kermesse".
Wool and silk. Hand knotted.
In need of restoration.
Measurements: 270 x 450 cm.
In this Flemish tapestry of Baroque period a lively costumbrista scene is developed in a coastal village of the Netherlands. Being the popular parties or kermesses so characteristic of the Flemish tapestries of the XVII century, the name "kermesse" identified so much to the Flemish tapestries as to the thematic of the country party. In the scene we are dealing with, in front of a mansion (through whose window a curious old woman looks out), a couple dances to the sound of bagpipes, a peasant carries a jug of wine, a fisherman wearing a bicorn talks to some peasants accompanied by a dog, other groups are preparing to eat their food? A steep cliff is crowned with a medieval citadel. The narrative and chromatic richness achieved with an intricate pattern to describe each of the characters and the idyllic landscape, characteristic aspects of the Brussels workshops, as is the type of border that frames the scene.
From the late Middle Ages until the 18th century, Flemish tapestries, as well as the pictorial production of the Flemish masters of painting, became a luxury commodity exported throughout Europe. The special relationship that was established between the region known as Flanders (an imprecise way of referring to the northern area of the Burgundian State) and the medieval Christian peninsular kingdoms (especially the Crown of Castile, and later the Hispanic Monarchy -which incorporated the Habsburg Netherlands-), from where much of the wool that reached the textile workshops of Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, Mechelen, Arras or Tou.