Page 141 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

Islam in the Mediterranean world at mid-century. determined that for strategic and commercial rea- shown fleeing the arrival of the Portuguese
In 1457 Pope Calixtus n appealed to the princes of sons, the most important objective on the Atlantic troops. A woman in the foreground leads one
Christianity to unite in a crusade against the Infi- coast was the city of Arzila. It ultimately fell to child by the hand, holding a second on her back
del, a call that was in reaction to the fall of Con- Dom Afonso's troops in 1471. and a third on her arm. The tapestry captures the
stantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, regarded by The so-called Taking of Arzila tapestries depict exotic style of the Moorish garments and their
the Catholic world as a catastrophe. In 1456, Dom the fierce battle in a format that reflects the great colors.
Afonso v had ordered that the income of the mythological narratives of classical antiquity. The At the center of the composition Tangiers is
Church in Portugal be used for the crusade intent was to glorify Portugal's ambitions in depicted with such accuracy that it can easily be
"which we now undertake to serve God and northern Africa and to celebrate its national compared to the rendition in the engraved view of
defend the Holy Church against the renegade achievements. The tapestries are thought to have the city in the Civitates Orbis Terrarum by Georg
Turks" (Monumenta Henricina, vol. xm). In been commissioned from the workshop of Pas- Braun (1541-1622). Despite the schematization
1457, in the midst of preparations for the Pope's quier Grenier in Tournai soon after the battle and the essential features of the Muslim town emerge
crusade, the first gold cruzados emerged from the to have been based on drawings made on the clearly, including the monumental mosque with
Casa da Moeda (Mint). Their production reflected scene, as the accuracy of detail in the costumes its various towers and minarets.
the considerable quantities of gold that the Portu- and armor would suggest. This lifelikeness To the left the Portuguese army approaches the
guese obtained from south of the Sahara through extends to the extraordinary gallery of portraits town's main gate, led by a standard-bearer dressed
Ceuta and especially via their trading post at presented in the compositions. The drawings have in a magnificent blue doublet, carrying a leather
Arguim. been attributed to Nuno Gongalves on the basis of shield on his back and holding a red and yellow
Portuguese support for this crusade did not go similarities between the figures of Dom Afonso v standard. Dom Joao, Constable of Portugal since
unrewarded. The Papal Bull promulgated by and Prince Dom Joao in the tapestries with the 1463, stands out in his splendid garments, with
Nicholas v on 8 January 1455 legitimized the corresponding figures in the Panel of the Infante plumed helmet, damascened steel armor and
occupation of lands and the struggle against ene- from the Saint Vincent altarpiece (cat. 19). pointed boots a la poulaine, riding a richly har-
mies of the faith, an undertaking regarded as The Taking of Arzila is recounted in three tap- nessed white horse with a red and gold brocade
serving the interests of God and of the Christian estries narrating the Disembarkation, the Siege, saddlecloth.
religion. A Bull of Pope Calixtus in of 13 March and the Taking of Arzila. The tapestry exhibited It is not known for certain how the tapestries
1456 reiterated this pronouncement and granted here celebrates the Taking of Tangiers immedi- made their way to Pastrana. A variety of theories
to the Order of Christ, the special Portuguese ately following the fall of Arzila. The king him- have been proposed. One suggestion is that they
order that had been founded in 1319 to fight the self decided to attack this Moroccan town after were offered by Philip n to Rui Gomes da Silva
Muslims, spiritual jurisdiction over all territories learning that the inhabitants had been frightened (1517-1573) at the time of the union of the king-
discovered at present and in the future, "from by the fate of Arzila. A small expedition led by doms of Portugal and Spain. Because of his influ-
Cape Bojador and Cape Nao, along the coast of Dom Joao, son of the second duke of Braganga and ence on Philip n, Gomes da Silva was known
Guinea and beyond to the Indies." later marquis of Montemor, took the city without popularly as Rei (King) Gomes; he was later
After the Portuguese victory in 1458, which led encountering any resistance. Prince of Eboli and first duke of Pastrana. (He was
to the annexion of the Moroccan town of Alcacer- The tapestry reads like a triptych, from right to descended from Dom Joao da Silva, Prince Dom
Ceguer, the failure of the expedition to Tangier in left: the flight of the Moors; the vacant city; and Joao's camareiro-mor (steward), a circumstance
1463 persuaded Dom Afonso v to undertake a the arrival of the Portuguese. At the right the that could account for the gift of the tapestries;
new Moroccan campaign. His military advisers population of the city, in a compact group, is moreover, he is portrayed with the coat-of-arms

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