The Hunts of Maximilian: August, the Bloodhound at the Patte d'Oie Ponds
Bernard van Orley (cartoons), Dermoyen workshop (weaving) (c. 1488-1541) · c. 1531
Deep in the forest of Soignes a great stag stands at bay in a thick bramble patch, about to spring, as two hunters approach behind their hounds straining on long leashes. In the middle distance the chase is already in full cry, riders and dogs racing after the animal, which is caught up with at the right. The ponds in the background suggested to scholars that the scene takes place at the spot called the Patte d'Oie ponds, not far from the priory of Groenendael. Virgo appears in the medallion of the upper border. Look at the leashed hounds: the tension in the ropes and the hunters leaning back against them are rendered entirely in wool and silk.
The tapestry is one of the twelve Hunts of Maximilian, woven in Brussels around fifteen thirty-one after cartoons by Bernard van Orley, with silver and gilt thread catching the light in the foliage. It carries the Brussels city mark and the mark of the weaver Guillaume Dermoyen. From the French royal collections, it entered the museum in seventeen ninety-seven.
Did You Know? The month is August, but the scene is identified by its ponds, the Patte d'Oie, a real spot in the forest south of Brussels.
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