Editing Tapestry (section)

===Arrival of Renaissance style and subjects===
Tapestry weavers in the Netherlands had become very comfortable working with the [[Gothic art|Gothic style]] by the late 15th century, and were slow to reflect the stylistic changes of the [[Italian Renaissance]]; perhaps pressure from the customers for tapestries led the way.  [[Old master print|Prints]] enabled Italian designs to be seen in the north.

A distinctive Italian subject was the [[Petrarch]]an ''triumph'', derived from his poem-cycle ''[[I trionfi]]'' (before 1374).  The first recorded tapestries were a three piece set ordered by Duke [[Philip the Bold]] of Burgundy from Paris in 1399. A set made in the 1450s for [[Giovanni di Cosimo de' Medici|Giovanni de' Medici]], a leading patron of the latest Florentine style, used cartoons sent from Italy to the Netherlandish weavers.  But the subjects suited the tapestry weavers style, as most designs included packed crowds of elaborately-dressed figures, and there were moral messages to be drawn.<ref>Campbell and Ainsworth, 151</ref>