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The monumental thirteen-panel tapestry set representing the "History of Constantine the Great" is a tour de force of the Baroque style and one of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s most important masterpieces. It consists of seven weavings presented to Cardinal Francesco Barberini by Louis XIII in 1625, along with six panels woven in the Barberini tapestry manufactory in Rome between 1630 and 1642.

Creation of the "Constantine Tapestries"

While the exact circumstances surrounding the commission of the Constantine tapestries are unclear, it seems likely that the idea for them was first conceived in 1622, when the famous Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens was present in Paris to work on a series of paintings for Marie de Medici, mother of Louis XIII, King of France. It was during this period that Rubens was commissioned to design twelve scenes for tapestries, each to depict an event from the life of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. An oil sketch by Rubens for one of these designs, The Emblem of Christ Appearing to Constantine, is also in the Museum’s collection.

The Comans-La Planche factory in Paris wove the tapestries, basing them on cartoons (large-scale paintings) produced by Rubens’s workshop. The seven tapestries in the Museum’s set can be identified not only by the French royal coats of arms in elaborate shields on the side borders, but also by the initials on the outer edges, which refer to the city of Paris (P) and the master weaver Hans Taye (HT).

In 1625, Louis XIII presented the seven completed tapestries as a diplomatic gift to the papal envoy Cardinal Francesco Barberini, who was visiting Paris to settle a dispute between France, Spain, and the papacy. Although his uncle, Pope Urban VIII, told the cardinal not to accept any gifts, he could not refuse these splendid weavings without offending the king. Incidentally—although perhaps not unknown to his hosts—the tapestries and their subject matter must have appealed strongly to the cultural and political interests of the cardinal and his family.

On his return to Rome, Cardinal Barberini established his own tapestry manufactory, and in 1630 commissioned the Italian artist and architect Pietro da Cortona to design six tapestry panels to complete the set. A number of preliminary drawings, color sketches, and full-scale cartoons representing different stages in Cortona’s designs have survived. The project presented an opportunity for Cortona to rival the celebrated skills of his Flemish counterpart, and also for the Barberini family to adapt the overall meaning of the set to suit their own aims.

During Pietro da Cortona’s period of work on the tapestry designs, he also received the prestigious commission to create a huge fresco for the vaulted ceiling of the Grand Reception Hall of the Barberini Palace. It has been argued that Cortona’s painted vault, depicting an Allegory of Divine Providence, was inspired by and a challenge to the painted narratives and designs of Peter Paul Rubens, whose style was represented by the French weavings in the Grand Hall of the Palace. It has been suggested that when hung, the Constantine tapestries and Cortona’s fresco ceiling functioned as a harmonious and spectacular decorative ensemble. Adapted to suit the intentions of the Barberini’s, the completed set of tapestries represented not only the early history of Christianity, but also the power of the church and papacy over secular rule; placed beneath the astonishing painted vault, the position of the Barberini family in maintaining this authority was made clear.