Throne Baldachin, designed by Hans Knieper, woven under the directorship of Hans Knieper, Helsingør (Denmark), 1585–86.
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, on long-term loan from the Livrustkammaren, Stockholm.
Wool, silk, and gold-metal thread (diameter 0.2 - 1 mm).
Depicting the coats of arms of Frederick II of Denmark (1559-1588) and his wife, Sofia, in a richly decorative ground that combines allegorical figures, heraldic emblems, and medallions with scenes from classical history.
This canopy was commissioned in the early 1580s as the centerpiece of a sequence of forty tapestries depicting life-size figures of the genealogy of the Danish kings.
The design was made by the Antwerp artist, Hans Knieper (1577-1587), and the work was done by a team of Flemish weavers.