The life of Diana was a favourite subject of the French tapestry weavers from this time onward, and the pieces were eagerly purchased by the ladies who enjoyed the favour of the Navarrois king. Guiffrey gives a detailed account of all these series in his large _Histoire de la Tapisserie en France_. The designer of the series in the royal collection is unknown. It is a fine example of the florid art of the Renaissance. The borders are especially fine, containing medallions supported by nymphs and satyrs garlanded with fruit and flowers. In the orders of two of the plates are monograms of silk and gold similar to that in _Les Noces de l’Empereur Otton_ in the National Museum at Munich. Coats-of-arms are seen on the scrolls that surmount the panels. In the centre are the arms of Colonna with a ducal crown; to the right a chequered shield with argent and purple squares; to the left an escutcheon carrying two wolves. The subjects of the different tapestries are as follow: (1) Latona changing the labourers into frogs. (2) Diana surrounded by dogs. (3) Diana with nymphs resting in a wood. (4) Diana begs from Jupiter eternal maidenhood. (5) Niobe dissuades the people from sacrificing to Latona. (6) Diana and Apollo slay the children of Niobe. (7) Diana approves Meleager’s design of offering a boar’s head to Alithea. There is another plate referring to the same subject which represents the birth of Diana. GROUP 22. _Tapestries of the Chamber of Charles III._ (2 Tapestries) On the completion of the new palace of Madrid in 1764, Charles III. ordered his bedroom to be decorated with tapestries to the number of seventy-seven pieces. These, of which the two plates reproduced here are a fair example, were specially woven at the royal factory at Madrid. They are all of rich materials and fine workmanship, and were used, as well for hangings as for the covering of chairs and couches. The tapestries were designed by Antoine Anglois. The two here reproduced are woven in silk and gold. They were used as a curtain to the balcony of the King’s bedroom and as a counterpane and bolster-cover for the royal bed. It was owing to the interest taken by this monarch in the art of tapestry weaving that the factory at Madrid was placed under the supervision of that fine artist, Raphael Menos. GROUP 23. _The Spheres_ This boldly planned and finely executed series is composed of three tapestries. The name of the designer of the cartoons is unknown, but he was evidently inspired by the Italian Renaissance. The figures are anatomically correct, and many of them were copied from well-known pictures. No. 1 shows Hercules upholding the world, and bears the inscription, _Magna Virtus sed Alienæ obnoxia_. No. 2 represents Atlas bearing the Universe on his shoulders. No. 3 represents Ferdinand and Isabella enthroned as monarchs of the whole world. [Illustration: STORY OF THE HOLY VIRGIN. BY VAN EYCK PLATE 1. 1. JESUS WITH HIS MOTHER]