Hero a Leandros - Tapiserie Primacialneho palaca v Bratislave (Second-hand Book)

Illustrated book, second-hand (published in 1977). Text in Slovak language, summary in Russian, German, English and French languages.

During re-construction work on the former Archbishop`s Palace in Bratislava in 1903, in a carefully masked hiding-place, there was found a collection of precious early-baroque tapestries. The tapestries were woven according to the painter Francis Cleyn`s cartoons in the English Royal workroom in Mortlake in the 30s of the 17th century.

The later fate of the tapestries is unknown. It is quite sure that after the death of the English king Charles I the tapestries were put on an art market. It is generally supposed, a hundred years later were bought by the Hungarian primate Cardinal Batthyanyi for his new palace in Bratislava. But we do`nt know who and why hid them in the secret hiding-place after his death. The series of six tapestries represents drama of the tragic love of a Greek youth Leander and a priestess of Aphrodite, Hero.

The drama is known from literary works of ancient poets Ovid and Musaius, and is revived by Renaissance writers again. The youth of Abydos - on the Thracian shore of the Hellespont (today Dardanelles) - and the beautiful hero of Sestos - on the opposite shore of the sea strait - had fallen deeply in love with each other. However, they had to conceal their love because hero, consecrated to temple service, would have live a virginal life till her death. because of this, Leander used to swim the sea nightly hidden in the darkness, to get to his love. Once during a big storm, he was drowned and died on the cliff of the seashore. hero, having seen dead Leander, in despair threw herself into the waves.

The German painter Francis Cleyn, before he joined the service of the English king, became intimately acquainted with Italian and French Renaissance and mannerism art. He then made use of his experience while producing cartoons for our tapestries. Several elements and figures were taken from works of Carravaggio, Carracci, Veronese, Caron and Cousin, but most of them from Raffael`s works, especially from his cartoons for Brussels series of the Acts of the Apostles. Cleyn was not only a skilled compilations maker, but a gifted artist as well, who was able to make use of notions of the artistic heritage of the 16th century in a spirit of a new, arising artistic style. The tapestries already acknowledge baroque creative conception.