Hampton Court ... Illustrated with forty-three drawings by Herbert ...

WOLSEY'S TAPESTRIES 159
thousand marks. In December 1522 he bought a
hundred and thirty-two pieces, to decorate the tower
and great gate-house, with the story of Esther, of
Samuel, of Tobit, of Moses, of Tobias, our Lady, and
so forth. The inventory of Wolsey's goods shows the
enormous number of hangings that he had obtained.
Some of the smaller pieces may be seen now set against
the gallery in the great hall, worked with the arms of
Wolsey and of York.
The quantity of tapestry collected by Wolsey was
so enormous that a description of it here would be
impossible. Attention therefore may be directed only
to those pieces which still remain in the Palace. The
most important are in the great hall and in the
adjoining " great watching chamber." The latter is
the more ancient. There are decorative strips with
Henry VIII.'s arms, the Tudor badges, and the
like. Beside these there are three sets of remarkably
beautiful work, still wonderfully well preserved,
and of the best age of Renaissance art. Of the
first Imust be content to quote Mr. Ernest Law's
description.1
" In the foreground is a female figure kneeling,
and offering a chalice "— but it certainly is not a
chalice; it is much more like a cake-dish — "to a man
standing opposite to her, who appears to be admiring
it,but refuses to accept it from her. By her side is
an elderly lady conducting her forward, presenting her
to the man, and a number of other people looking on.
1 Guide-book,p. 95.