Armorial Millefleurs

This armorial tapestry depicts two date palms floating on a mille-fleurs ground (date palms, which grow straight and erect, were an emblem of piety). Halfway between the palm trees is a landscape roundel encircled by a flowering wreath. The landscape shows the town of Salzburg in the valley and two castles on distant mountain tops. In the center of the roundel, ornamental ropes frame two coats of arms, the arms of Salzburg (left) and the arms of Matthäus Lang von Wellenberg, archbishop of Salzburg (right). Lang became cardinal of Salzburg in 1513, and then served as archbishop of Salzburg from 1519 until his 1540 death, thus providing a date range for our tapestry. Several tapestries of this type have been linked to Bruges workshops such as that of the weaver Antoon Segon.