DERMOYEN, Willem

The workshop of Bernaert van Orley produced a tapestry cycle for Emperor Charles V, commemorating the decisive imperial victory over the French army of Fran�ois I in the Battle of Pavia. These seven tapestries depict the historical event as a heroic epic. Nonetheless, each of the narrative scenes is presented as a panorama filled with anecdotal details. The Mutiny of the Swiss Pikemen is the fifth tapestry in the cycle. It shows numerous Swiss mercenaries fleeing the French camp. In the foreground, the leader of the regiment, Jean de Diesbach, is about to be beheaded by an imperial soldier on horseback.

The tapestry was executed by the Brussels workshop of the brothers Willem and Jan Dermoyen.

This tapestry is from the series of The Hunts of Maximilian. Praising hunting as the sport of the noblemen, the tapestries recorded the preparation for the hunt, the setting out, the hunt itself and the feast, according to the twelve months of the year. The tapestries were woven after the design by Bernaert van Orley in the Brussels workshop of Jan and Willem Dermoyen between 1531 and 1533.

Karel van Mander praised Van Orley mainly for his work as a tapestry designer. The artist enjoyed the most success in this area since he fundamentally transformed the art of Flemish tapestry. In contrast with the earlier, planar, static and overcrowded wall carpets, he designed spacious, perspectival compositions with dynamic figures defined by joint activities.