During the eighteenth century, tapestry is put to a new use, which makes it especially important in connexion with the study of furniture. In the Middle Ages, we found it was a custom for the rich to throw over their carved chairs and benches, sumptuous pieces of tapestry and other handsome textiles; in this age we now find the weavers making covers for the backs and seats of chairs, sofas and screens, the patterns or pictures for which are specially designed. Throughout Europe, the drawing-rooms are furnished with these beautiful sets of tapestry furniture, always consisting of two sofas, armchairs and chairs. This new fashion practically made the fortune of the Beauvais manufactory. The most delicate pictures, artistically framed, were woven: landscapes, scenes from _Æsop’s Fables_, pastorals, emblems, mythological stories, baskets of fruit, baskets of flowers, garlands of flowers, bird cages, shepherds and shepherdesses, monkeys, swings, children playing, animals, birds, etc., etc. The majestic style of Le Brun gives place to the airy charm of Watteau, Boucher and Van Loo. _The Hunts of Louis XV_, _The Adventures of Don Quixote_, _The Gardens of Armida_, _Aurora and Cephalus_, _Venus on the Waters_, _Venus at the Forge of Vulcan_, _Cupid and Psyche_, _Children Playing_, _The Swing_, _Genii of the Arts_, _Endymion_, _Rustic Festivals_, _Fortune Tellers_, _Fishing_, _Rural Amusements_, scenes from Molière’s comedies, Indian hangings, Chinese hangings and scenes in which monkeys appear in grotesque attitudes and costumes, supplant heroic triumphs and religious pictures as subjects for wall decorations. Some of the last historical pieces that were made in Brussels were _The Campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough_, _The History of the Duchy of Brabant_ and _Victories of Prince Eugene_. The Flemings of the early eighteenth century still maintained their ancient eminence in Decorative Art. Their weavers were still sought after, and their craftsmen produced many pieces of carved furniture of the _Régence_ and _Louis Quinze_ periods that are still preserved and admired. The schools of Liège, Brussels and Lille (the latter just across the border in France, being practically still in Belgium, as originally it was) were famous for the high excellence of workmanship produced. Jacques Verberckt, who was born in Antwerp and died in Paris in 1771, was accepted at the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and executed or planned the greatest number of decorative sculpture made during the reign of Louis XV at Versailles. He was also employed by the Marquise de Pompadour to decorate her _château_ of Bellevue. Verberckt worked with a delicate touch in marble, wood, or metal. Brussels was an important centre of industry and art throughout the century. Its citizens included many men of wealth who took interest in art, science and literature.