Pasquier Grenier

Pasquier Grenier was a tapestry and wine merchant from the Burgundian South Netherlands, living and working in Tournai, Wallonia. Once believed to be a master tapestry weaver, archival documents reveal that he was actually one of the most prominent tapestry dealers of the fifteenth-century in Western Europe, working with tapestry workshops in cities such as Tournai, Bruges, and Antwerp.

Life and family Pasquier Grenier was the son of Lottart, but his birth year is undocumented, as neither the primary archival sources nor secondary sources cite a date. What is known is that on 7 July 1447, Pasquier was officially accepted as a burgher of the city of Tournai. At some point (date unknown), he married Marguerite de Lannoy and together they had seven children, who were listed in Pasquier's will including: Gilles, Pierre, Jean, Imbert, Colinet, Antoine (Antonin), and an unnamed daughter married to Corneille Daussat. He was also a member of the noble confraternity of the Damoiseaux (founded in 1280), dedicated to the Virgin Mary. was left to his son Jean in his will, along with another house in the city of Bruges. Later, in 1460, he worked with a merchant named Geradin Glaude based in Reims, and to another unnamed merchant in the Champagne region at an unknown date.

On 20 July 1479, he established political and commercial ties to the King of France, Louis XI, through Olivier le Daim, a courtier and advisor to the King, concerning a matter that came before the magistrate of Tournai and documented in the ancient registers of the "Consaux" (the four colleges that made up Tournai's municipal government). Then, another Consaux record dated 29 October 1481 explains that Pasquier served as an ambassador for King Louis XI to the city of Tournai. Two years later, King Edward permitted Jean Pasquier to import into the country, duty free, altar cloths and tapestries of the Trojan Warseries (see below). He was also the most important supplier of tapestries to later dukes of Burgundy, including Philip the Good and Charles the Bold. Another set was possibly sold also in 1459, but it is not certain, to the Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza, after Pasquier's son, Melchior, and Guillaume went to Milan in January 1459 to show the designs for the set to Francesco Sforza. Two pieces survive, likely from this set (or possibly the one purchased by Philip the Good), and are located in the collection of the Doria Pamphilj Gallery in Rome, having been part of the collection of the Doria family of Genoa. On 13 July 1476, Jean (Pasquier's son) received a third of the payment (recorded in a notarial document) for a set of eleven tapestries to the Duke of Urbino, Federico da Montefeltro. One tapestry survives from this set is also at the Victoria and Albert Museum, along with its cartoon at the Louvre Museum. and at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Two tapestries from this set survive in the collections of the Vatican Museums in Rome and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels. Like the Swan Knight below, the set was offered as a gift to the Cardinal of Arras, Jean Jouffroy. and a fragment at the Louvre Museum.

Orange Pickers

One panel was sold in 1461 to the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good.

Woodcutters

One set was sold in 1461 to the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, that comprised a suite (French: chambre) of nine tapestries including cushions and covers for the bed, along with four panels for the walls, all made out of linen and silk.

Pastrana Tapestries

Attributed sale made by Pasquier Grenier: this set of tapestries celebrates the 1471 Portuguese conquest of the Moroccan cities of Asilah and Tangier.

Patronage at the Church of Saint Quentin

Architectural From the archival sources, scholars deduce that Pasquier Grenier accumulated significant wealth and status. he provided the funds for the renovation of the east end (chevet) of the Church of Saint Quentin, including the addition of an ambulatory, eight new columns that supported the vaults of the choir, and three new chapels. The central chapel (axial chapel) of the three was dedicated to the Seven Sacraments and later housed the sepulcher of Pasquier and his wife, Marguerite de Lannoy. In the vaults, the painting's imagery includes angels, the Four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), chalices (or ciborium), Eucharistic hosts, and banderoles with text. the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Burrell Collection. and Antoine. They both continued to sell tapestries till around 1520 to the leading noble families of Europe, including clients such as King Henry VII of England, Philip the Handsome, the Duke of Burgundy, and the Archbishop of Rouen, Georges d'Amboise. In 1497, Antoine Grenier sold Georges d'Amboise a tapestry altar frontal to be displayed in the Archiepiscopal Palace in Rouen, and then in 1508, Antoine sold him other tapestries for his summer archiepiscopal residence, the Château de Gaillon.