These fine Flemish tapestries were added to the royal collection at Madrid by Philip II. They are of exquisite workmanship and are heavily enriched with threads of gold. There are ten pieces in the series, four of which being hung on the walls of the palace cannot be here reproduced. These grotesque figures form an ideal tapestry design. “In the centre of each tapestry,” says the Count Valencia de Don Juan, “there is a light and elegant bower of trellis-work, formed by arches, scrolls, and caryatids; the ribbon surrounding it is formed of flowers, fruit, and animals, amongst which frolic monkeys and dogs.” The borders are enriched with mythological figures. The tapestries were woven by Hector Vuyens, who made his own designs. GROUP 20. _The Story of Cyrus the Great_ (8 Tapestries) These tapestries, especially remarkable for their beautiful borders, were woven probably by Nicolas Leiniers, a well-known _tapissier_ of the sixteenth century. They bear the Brussels mark, but the designer of the cartoons is unknown. They are carried out in silk and wool, enriched with gold and silver thread. The tapestries passed into the possession of Philip II., and are known to have been used in the funeral ceremonies of Francis II. of France. There is in existence the account which was rendered by Philip’s tapestry maker to his master for the transportation of the tapestries from Madrid to Toledo, where the funeral took place. The tapestries represent episodes in the life of the great Persian conqueror, and certain of the legends that were current about his parentage. The designer of the cartoons seems to have followed the Thucedidean account of the delivering of the boy Cyrus to a shepherd, and his subsequent recognition by Astyages. Cyrus’s wars against the people of Lydia and his capture of Crœsus are, of course, historic. There is a legend related by some of the early historians that Cyrus desired to put Crœsus to death at the stake, a proceeding which would have been directly contrary to the principles of the Zoroastrian religion. The designer of the tapestries appears to have got hold of a distorted form of this story in the fifth panel of this series. The ghastly end imagined by the cartoonist for the conqueror is wholly fictitious. It is probable that Cyrus was killed actually on the field of battle. GROUP 21. _The Story of Diana or Artemis_ (7 Tapestries) It is under this name that this series of tapestries is classed in the inventories. On the plates of the pieces themselves, however, only the name, Diana, is employed. The series is the only one of French origin in the Spanish royal collection. It is from the Gobelins looms, which were established in 1603 by Van der Planken and Mare de Comano by contract with Henry IV. on the settlement of the Civil Wars.