Hunting and Pastoral Scenes, with a shepherdess shearing

Hunting and Pastoral Scenes with a shepherdess shearing from c. 1510 is a companion tapestry to the Hunting and Pastoral Scenes with a wreathed hero, from the same workshop in the southern Netherlands or Paris, and designed in France in the early 16th century. The tapestry depicts hunting and pastoral scenes with a shepherdess shearing, in the same richly detailed manner as its companion, reflecting the early 16th-century taste for tapestries that depicted the elegant outdoor life of the aristocracy. The pastoral subject of a shepherdess shearing—combining the aristocratic ideal of pastoral life with the realistic detail of Flemish weaving—was one of the most popular subjects in early 16th-century tapestry.

This tapestry is important in the history of European textile art as the companion to the Hunting and Pastoral Scenes with a wreathed hero, demonstrating the early 16th-century taste for tapestry series depicting the elegant outdoor life of the aristocracy. The pastoral subject of a shepherdess shearing—combining the aristocratic ideal of pastoral life with the realistic detail of Flemish weaving—was one of the most popular subjects in early 16th-century tapestry, and this companion piece shows the same accomplished collaboration between French design and Flemish weaving.

Hunting and Pastoral Scenes with a shepherdess shearing is the companion to the wreathed hero tapestry from the same early 16th-century workshop: depicting the aristocratic ideal of pastoral life in the richly detailed manner of Flemish weaving combined with French design. The c. 1510 tapestry shows the pastoral subject that was one of the most popular in early 16th-century tapestry.