Royal Palace, detail

The Royal Palace tapestry wall hanging, of which this is a detail, is from The Tenture de Maisons Royals, or The Tapestries of the Royal Households, commissioned by Louis XIV in about 1670. Designed by Charles le Brun, the First Painter to Louis XIV and also Director of Gobelins, each tapestry in this set of twelve represents a month of the year showing a different French Royal palace. They were woven at the Royal Gobelins workshops in Paris where 250 employees were producing tapestries. Here you can still see traditional hand-weaving of tapestries commissioned by the French government. This chateau tapestry is finely woven in France and is lined with a rod pocket for easy hanging.