A Brussels historical tapestry depicting Constantine before Galerius, from the series of the History of Constantine, woven by the workshop of Geraert van der Strecken (active 1647-1677) after a cartoon by Abraham van Diepenbeeck (1596-1675) circa 1660

Abraham van Diepenbeeck, an assistant and pupil of Peter Paul Reubens, made what was probably his first foray into tapestry design with a series of cartoons for the History of Constantine, woven circa 1660 in the Brussels workshop of Geraert van der Strecken.  An edition from the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio  in Milan, possibly with replaced borders, includes a reduced version of the episode showing Constantine before Galerius, in which the future Emperor Constantine returns with the spoils of his military victories to the congratulations of Galerius (Forti Grazzini 1988, pp. 26-49).  The border of the present tapestry compares directly with those those seen in a tapestry series of the Story of Anthony and Cleopatra at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, which were designed by another pupil of Reubens, Justus van Egmont, and also woven in the workshop of Geraert van der Strecken (Standen 1985, pp. 206-217).

RELATED LITERATURE

H. Göbel, Wandteppiche, Leipzig, 1923, part 1, vol. 1, pp. 386-389
E. Standen, European Post-Medieval Tapestries and Related Hangings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, pp. 206-217
N. Forti Grazzini, Arrazi a Milano. Le serie fiamminghe del Museo della Basilica di San Ambrogio, Milan, 1988, pp. 26-49
G. Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt, 1999, p. 261