The Glorification of Mars
Artist(s) / maker(s)
Urbanus Leyniers (workshop / studio),
Jan van Orley (cartoons (working drawings))
,
Hendrik Reydams (workshop / studio)
,
Daniël II Leyniers (workshop / studio)
,
Aurèle Augustin Coppens (cartoons (working drawings))
Date
1717Period
18th centuryCollection
Museum of Fine Arts Ghent
In 1716, the Viscounty of the Oudburg in Ghent commissioned a series of tapestries devoted to the Exaltation of the Gods. The Viscounty was a fief of the County of Flanders, located within the walls of the Counts’ Castle. Barely a year later, the tapestries were hung in the Castellany. The Oudburg arms appears in the middle of each tapestry…
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In 1716, the Viscounty of the Oudburg in Ghent commissioned a series of tapestries devoted to the Exaltation of the Gods. The Viscounty was a fief of the County of Flanders, located within the walls of the Counts’ Castle. Barely a year later, the tapestries were hung in the Castellany. The Oudburg arms appears in the middle of each tapestry. Oudburg College was closed down during the period of French revolutionary occupation and the Viscounty building was demolished. The series ended up in the Museum of Fine Art in 1904, having had several homes in the interim. The first tapestry shows The Exaltation of Mars. The God of War’s triumphal chariot is drawn by two lions – symbols of violent conflict. A cherub rides on one of the lions, holding up a laurel crown on a stick as an emblem of the conqueror. The other lion is led by the winged figure of Fortune, with a wheel – symbol of the inconstancy of fate – under her arm. Soldiers follow the chariot, escorting a procession of prisoners of war and captured booty. Another winged figure, the Spirit of Victory, holds the laurel wreath above Mars’ head, while Fame flies before him, trumpeting his glory. The burning city in the background represents the violence of war – the destroyer of civilisation.
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