The Spanish royal collection, considered since the 19th century to be the best collection of Flemish tapestries in Europe, includes more than five hundred pieces from manufacturers in Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp, although it also includes examples from the manufacturers of Paris and Beauvais, the Arazzeria Florentina and the Roman manufacturer in the Hospital of San Miguel.
The role of tapestries as a courtly form of decoration gave them a prominent place in ceremonies and public celebrations in accordance with royal etiquette in place since the Middle Ages, lasting until the present day. In addition, the Spanish monarchs thought of the tapestries as treasures that represented their royal authority. The acquisitions made by Isabella I of Castile and, in particular, the patronage of Joanna I of Castile, Charles V and Philip II added to the collection with masterpieces such as The Golden Cloths, The Honours, The Conquest of Tunis and The Apocalypse. Successive inheritances and direct commissions progressively enriched the Royal Tapestries, and dispersal was prevented by the provisions in the testament of Philip II, which linked the collection to the Crown.
The Renaissance tapestries from the reigns of Charles V and Philip II are the largest of all, measuring over five metres in height and over ten metres in length. These monumental series based on historical and allegorical subjects were conceived as mirrors of princes and chronicles of their conquests. They drew on the extensive iconographic programmes written by humanists, historians and court painters.
The tapestries from the reigns of Philip III and Philip IV, and the government of the archdukes of the Netherlands, Albert of Austria (1559-1621) and Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633), featured the great baroque allegories of the Counter-Reformation, such as the Triumph of the Eucharist at the Descalzas Reales, a sign of the change in taste and the acceptance of new techniques linked to the work of Pieter Paul Rubens as a master cartoonist.
The second large group, comparable in number to the great Flemish collection, consists of more than eight hundred pieces that were made in Spain. The tapestries woven in the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid, founded by Philip V in 1719, were used to decorate the royal apartments in the Royal Palace in Madrid and the seasonal palaces of La Granja de San Ildefonso, Aranjuez, El Escorial and El Pardo. The collection also includes the tapestry carpets, commissioned by Charles III, Charles IV and Ferdinand VII to cover the marble floors of the Country Estates at Aranjuez, El Pardo and El Escorial. Francisco de Goya's long employment as a cartoonist, from 1775 to 1792, helped to enhance the reputation of the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid in comparison to the rest of the European manufacturers of the 18th century.
