Hiram Morgan relates the history of a 16th-century tapestry that features a tournament between British and Irish knights
T he Tournament of British and Irish Knights at Bayonne (Fig 1) is the largest of the eight sumptuous Valois tapestries commissioned by the dowager queen Catherine de’ Medici to commemorate a series of lavish royal entertainments – magnificences – organised in France between 1564 and 1573. The tapestries, now held by the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, were sent to the city as part of a dowry when Catherine’s granddaughter Christina married the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1589. The Uffizi restored them to their original splendour in an elaborate restoration project between 1998 and 2021. The work on this particular tapestry took ten years.
Joseph McBrinn charts the history of Evie Hone’s Tullabeg windows, which illustrate scenes from the life of Christ
Brian Fallon remembers a modest exhibition that began a love affair with the work of Harry Kernof
Síghle Bhreathnach-Lynch remembers a leading member of the Celtic Revival, artist Mia Cranwill
