Unknown Maker, Franco-Flemish

This tapestry was made to commemorate the Beaufort, Comminges and Turenne families in the person of Guillaume Rogier III de Beaufort (1332-1395) who was rector of Avignon during the papacy of his brother, Gregory XI. This fragment is one of only ten pieces of what is the only armorial tapestry pre-dating the fifteenth century known to have survived. On a blue ground a pattern made of diamond-shaped figures formed by four storks, alternate with the beaks and legs facing each other. Within these windows is a crenellated castle with three towers, paired winged angels that hold a crown above the head of a deer, unicorn or elephant, as is the case with the Museum’s fragment.