Saint Paul Defending Himself before Agrippa

designed ca. 1529-1530, probably woven before 1546

Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Designer Jan van der Vyst, Weaver

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About the Artwork

Title Saint Paul Defending Himself before Agrippa

Artwork Date designed ca. 1529-1530, probably woven before 1546

Makers Pieter Coecke van Aelst (Designer) Netherlandish, 1502-1550 Jan van der Vyst (Weaver) Netherlandish

Medium Wool and silk

Dimensions Overall: 165 inches × 23 feet 7 inches (4 m 19.1 cm × 7 m 18.8 cm)

Classification Tapestries

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Founders Society Purchase

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 24.29

Markings

Inscriptions Woven inscriptions in three cartouches from left to right: PAVLVS PRAEDICAT CHRISTVM FOEILICI PRAESIDIEVSVE VXORISDRVSILLAE PAVLVS CORAM PRAESIDE FESTO ET REGE AGRIPPA ET BERENICE APPELLAT CAESAREM ET QVAE SIBI CONTIGERINT ENARRAT PAVLVS VNA CVMARISTARCHO, CON SCENSA NAV I, ROMAN DEDVCITVR

Provenance

by tradition, from an Austrian Collection

1924, (Bachstitz Gallery, The Hague, Netherlands and New York, New York, USA)

1924-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Friedländer, M.J. "Pieter Coecke van Alost," Jahrbuch der KÖniglich. Preuszischen Kunstsammlungen, vol. 38. Berlin, 1917, pp. 84-5 (ill.) [article pp. 73-94].

?Dr. J. Boettiger, Stockholm, published.

Walther, J. "Flemish Tapestries," Bulletin of the DIA 6 (October 1924): p. 5 (ill.)

von Baldass, L. "Masterpieces of the Art of Flemish Tapestry-Weaving," Bulletin of the Backstitz Gallery, vol. 7/8 (September 1924): 2-6, (ill.).

von Baldass, L. "Die Paulustapisserien des Pieter Coecke van Alost," Belvedere 5, no. 20 (1924): 45 (ill.).

Held, J. Bulletin of the DIA 4 (1935): 107-109.

Marlier, G. La Renaissance Flamande: Pierre Coecke d'Alost. Brussels, 1966, p. 310.

Cavallo, A. Tapestries of Europe and Colonial Peru in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, vol 1. Boston, 1967, pp. 98-103 [Related examples] [xerox copy of article in Registrar's Acc. file.]

The Virtuoso Craftsman: Northern European Design in the 16th Century. Worcester Art Museum, Massachusettes. 1969, no. 16, pp. 45-48 (ill.).

Farmer, D. The Virtuoso Craftsman: Northern European Design in the Sixteenth Century. Connoisseur, vol. 171, no. 687 (May 1969): p. 51, (ill.); p. 53; p. 51, no. 2 (ill.) [reprint]

Asselberghs, J.-P. Les Tapisseries Flamandes aux Etats-Unis d'Amerique. Brussels, 1974, p. 24.

Bauer, R. Tapisserien der Renaissance nach Entwürfen von Pieter Coecke van Aelst. Exh. cat., Schloss Halbturn. Austria, 1981, pp. 37-54.

Woven Splendor: Five Centuries of European Tapestry at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Exh. checklist, DIA. Detroit, July-September 1996, p. 73.

Delmarcel, G. "A Flemish Tapestry by Pieter Coecke van Aelst," Bulletin of the DIA 78, no. 1/2 (2004): pp.19-29 (ill.).

Campbell, T. Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty: Tapestries at the Tudor Court. New Haven & London, 2007, pp. 238-241; p. 240, (fig. 12.14) (ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Pieter Coecke van Aelst; Jan van der Vyst (probably woven under his direction), Saint Paul Defending Himself before Agrippa, designed ca. 1529-1530, probably woven before 1546, wool and silk. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, 24.29.