
Expo 2019 Beijing
Art at the Belgian Garden
The 2 million visitors who already wandered through Expo 2019 Beijing were able to admire, among other things, (a picture of) this tapestry from the 16th century, a craft that has marked the entire history of the city of Ghent in the Province of East Flanders, Belgium.
Tapestries and textile are an important part of the history of Ghent. Not only do they represent a huge factor of the economic growth of the province in the past, but they are also deeply embedded in its rich culture and graphic art.
In the 14th century, the tapestries became an important part of the activity of that region. 200 years later, the peak of the textile and tapestries industries was reached. Artisans created them in collaboration with famous painters like Van Orley or Brueghel.
Thanks to the quality of the tapestries, the city of Audenaerde was famous all over western Europe. Charles V, the most powerful European monarch of the first half of the 16th century, granted the supreme gage of quality for all the tapestries coming from Audenaerde.