Pieter van Aelst III

The Stoning of Saint Stephen, from Gonzaga version of the Sistine Chapel tapestries, designed by Raphael, c. 1519 Pieter van Aelst or Pieter van Aelst III was a Flemish tapestry weaver whose workshop commenced by his grandfather was one of the leading weavers of Flanders in the first half of the 16th century.

He should not be confused with Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502-1550), a Flemish painter who was also a significant tapestry designer.

Life He was likely born around 1495 in Brussels (possibly in Aalst) as the son of Pieter van Edingen van Aelst (also referred to as (Pieter van Aelst the Younger', c. 1450-1533). His father and grandfather were both tapestry weavers. Pieter joined the workshop that his father had set up in Brussels in 1493 and was trained there.

He became the purveyor of tapestries to the Spanish king Charles V, the then ruler of Flanders. This was likely upon the death of Pieter's grandfather Pieter van Aelst I. These helped the van Aelst workshop gain other important commissions.

A tapestry after Raphael's Bearing of the Cross produced by the van Aelst workshop in 1520 played an important role in the introduction of the Italian Renaissance style in Flanders. In 1520 Pope Leo X commissioned a series of 20 tapestries of Children’s Games and Medici Symbols from van Aelst. The contract required the background of the tapestries to be completely filled with gold. The price of the gold accounted for 14,000 ducats in the total price of 17,600 ducats (i.e. 80%) payable for the series. The series of Children's Games depicted winged spirits with attributes and emblems representing the emblems of the House of Medici and the Pope himself.