The Invention of Glory

Commissioned in the 1470s most likely by Afonso V, king of Portugal, the Pastrana Tapestries are a group of four towering (12 by 36 feet each) tapestries memorialising his conquest of the Moroccan cities of Asilah and Tangier, near the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. An impressive rendition in wool and silk woven by Flemish weavers, the tapestries display multicoloured scenes of the day: military, royalty and maritime life. The images are an anomaly in that they portray current experiences and not ancient or Biblical events. Since the seventeenth century, the Pastrana tapestries have been the property of the Collegiate Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Pastrana, Spain. The tapestries recently underwent total conservation in Belgium after deterioration and damage. Now entirely restored, they are an outstanding discovery for both scholars and the general public.