Voering van wandtapijt met de geschiedenis van Jupiter en Callisto c. 1593 - 1600

Curator: Well, the overall impression is wonderfully muted – almost dreamlike in its understated palette. Editor: Precisely! We’re looking at the reverse side, or ‘voering,’ of a tapestry, a piece created somewhere between 1593 and 1600 by François Spiering. It's called "Voering van wandtapijt met de geschiedenis van Jupiter en Callisto". Curator: Ah, that makes so much sense. You wouldn’t necessarily grasp that it's the BACK of a tapestry. Immediately, I'm just lost in the layers. Like seeing a thought before it’s fully formed. Editor: I'm drawn to its unfinished nature; the raw edges and visible stitching. What tales could this textile whisper about creation? What are the secret stories we see? Curator: Absolutely. While Jupiter and Callisto probably held their significance for the folks enjoying the finished work, here, they're stripped away. It's as if we have the DNA of a narrative without the full performance, which I find extremely compelling. Editor: Agreed! Tapestries were often used to tell stories from classical mythology and religion. Now this raw piece is hinting at power dynamics—the seduction of Callisto by Jupiter, with its cultural interpretations of innocence lost and betrayal—and the story is fragmented, obscured. Curator: Almost a modern approach to ancient themes. There’s something very current about that deconstruction, the unvarnished, exposed support. And if these colors can quietly exist and generate so much internal energy... Editor: Color always carries echoes from our visual history. I imagine those light beiges held a comforting sense for their audience – linking the owner to power through classical storytelling, and linking us to their shared humanity across all those centuries! Curator: The artifice of grandeur, softened. Knowing this tapestry lining existed centuries ago, still whispering of those power dynamics… Makes you realize some human dramas never truly fade. Editor: It's that interplay between permanence and vulnerability, really resonating in our view, as well.