The Tapisserie Peinte of Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Provence

Abstract

Tapisserie peinte, or “painted tapestry,” was a type of decorative wall covering that thrived in Provence during the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although dependent on design conventions derived from woven tapestry, this painted form was cheaper and quicker to produce and therefore accessible to a class of patrons below the highest levels in society. Using many of the skills and materials associated with the shipbuilding trades of Marseille and Toulon, tapisserie peinte became an important medium in the early modern domestic interior, introducing themes and subjects from fine and decorative art to the emerging class of provincial merchants and professionals.