50 NEWTON MANOR. 



word or two about the series of seven pictures which hang in the 

 corridor. These are Italian 17th century productions, and I 

 obtained them at Brescia. As works of art they have very little 

 merit, but the strange incomprehensible subjects, all apparently 

 weird witchcraft scenes, have a sort of curious attractiveness. 

 Pictures of this kind were in the 16th century termed "capricci," 

 or " Bambocciate ; " it is rather difficult to make out the meaning 

 of the present series, if indeed they had any definite meaning. 

 They furnish in any case matter for amusing comment and specula- 

 tion. Perhaps, I ought next to notice the tapestry in the hall. 

 Nearly all ancient tapestry was made in Flanders, mostly at- Arras 

 and Brussels ; it was usually made in sets to order, and very often 

 from drawings and cartoons sent from other countries. This is the 

 case with two of the three pieces on these walls. Two of these 

 hangings are in excellent preservation, but the other and most 

 important piece of the three is, I am sorry to say, in a very fragile 

 and tattered condition. All three pieces are nearly of the same 

 period, ranging from 1500 to 1520. The large piece which covers 

 the end of the hall, and is the worst preserved, was obtained in 

 Spain, and although doubtless woven in Flanders was done from a 

 cartoon or drawing of the same size by a Spanish artist. The 

 subject is, I believe, quite unique ; it represents a soit of triumphant 

 march, the figures being of the size of life, headed by a Moorish 

 King or Emir walking in amity with a Christian knight, their ladies 

 and children, soldiers, musicians, and servants following. The 

 principal feature is a procession of five huge giraffes, caparisoned 

 with richly embroidered trappings ; each of these animals carries a 

 pair of panniers, in which are Moorish and Christian children with 

 their nurses and attendants. A crowd of soldiers with halberds and 

 musicians with kettledrums and trumpets form a splendid medley, 

 whilst in the upper part of the tapestry are seen several Moorish 

 cavaliers with javelins and kite-shaped "adarga" shields, riding 

 jennets in the Moorish fashion with shoe stirrups, and at each end 

 of the tapestry are carob trees with the great pendant beans hanging 

 down. This piece, doubtless one of a series, must have been woven 



