Has Mary Beard found Henry VIII’s tapestry in a rug shop?
A TAPESTRY commissioned by Henry VIII that went missing nearly 200 years ago is believed to have been found in a Google search by historian Mary Beard.
The Cambridge classics professor and TV presenter stumbled across the 9ft by 25ft piece when she was researching how Roman emperors were depicted in later European art.
The tapestry, at a rug dealer’s shop in New York, is thought to be one of ten showing scenes from the life of Julius Caesar that were once owned by the Tudor king.
Experts who examined the artwork, which shows Caesar crossing the Rubicon, say it dates from the mid-16th century. The lost set, originally displayed at Hampton Court, was valued at £5,022 in 1649, a century after Henry’s death. This would be millions in today’s money.
Professor Beard found a photo of the tapestry online, and saw it was on sale at Manhattan’s Persian Gallery. ‘I was searching for an image for a lecture and I put “Caesar tapestry” into the search engine and saw it on Google images,’ she told The Times.
If the tapestry, made from gilt-metallic thread, silk and wool, is confirmed as original it is hoped it can return to Hampton Court. The professor added: ‘They were colossally valuable … When the property of Charles I was inventoried after his execution these tapestries were the second most valuable thing in the royal collection.’
The Caesar tapestries remained at Hampton Court until the mid-17th century when they were reserved for Cromwell’s use at Whitehall. They were last seen in 1819 at Kensington Palace.
Roger Michel of the Institute of Digital Archaeology described the set as ‘Henry’s great treasure’, adding: ‘There are frequent references to tapestries being sent for repair or rehanging … perhaps they were never collected.’
The work found by Professor Beard was bought 15 years ago by a dealer, and is estimated to be worth £40,000 in its current state.