ABSTRACT
From its first appearance in the mid-fourteenth century, tapestry became the most important large figurative decoration in palaces and castles. Biblical, historical and mythological subjects were used as models for rulers, their military victories were celebrated in specific sets and their nobility was displayed on armorial pieces. Scenes of daily life and nature completed this decoration. The richest series were woven with wool, silk and threads of gold and silver, mostly for specific elite commissions. In the Renaissance and later times, royal collections housed many hundreds of pieces. The core region of production was in the Burgundian and later Spanish Netherlands, but foreign courts founded their own tapestry manufactories, as happened in Florence, Munich and Paris.
