Peter I Against a Scene of the Battle of Poltava after a cartoon by Louis Caravaque
Philippe Behagle and Ivan Kobylyakov
Tapestry
1722
Wool, silk
300 x 315 cm
This tapestry, an early example of a Russian woolen wall-hanging, was much admired by contemporaries. It was woven at the St. Petersburg Tapestry Manufactory founded by Peter I in 1717. Foreign specialists, including the Frenchman Philippe Behagle, were specially invited to instruct Russian weavers and, as in this case, they might produce joint works. This tapestry was woven by Behagle and the talented Russian weaver Ivan Kobylyakov from a design by the painter Louis Caravaque. The tsar is shown in the uniform of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, standing before a scene from the Battle of Poltava.
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