This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Tapestries

Tapestries

The entry of Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici into Florence after the death of his father, Lorenzo de' Medici

c.1853-76

Salted paper print | RCIN 853092

A photograph of a drawing catalogued by Ruland (1876) as being then in the Darmstadt Collection. The composition occurs in the frieze-like scene below 'The Stoning of St Stephen', one of the ten tapestries commissioned by Pope Leo X for the Sistine Chapel, designed by Raphael and his studio in c.1514-15. The scenes in the tapestry borders illustrate episodes from the life of Pope Leo X. A number of drawings of this subject survive.
  • Acquired for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)