Page:Hutton, William Holden - Hampton Court (1897).djvu/237

Rh thousand marks. In December 1522 he bought a hundred and thirty-two pieces, to decorate the tower and great gate-house, with the story of Esther, of Samuel, of Tobit, of Moses, of Tobias, our Lady, and so forth. The inventory of Wolsey's goods shows the enormous number of hangings that he had obtained. Some of the smaller pieces may be seen now set against the gallery in the great hall, worked with the arms of Wolsey and of York.

The quantity of tapestry collected by Wolsey was so enormous that a description of it here would be impossible. Attention therefore may be directed only to those pieces which still remain in the Palace. The most important are in the great hall and in the adjoining "great watching chamber." The latter is the more ancient. There are decorative strips with Henry VIII.'s arms, the Tudor badges, and the like. Beside these there are three sets of remarkably beautiful work, still wonderfully well preserved, and of the best age of Renaissance art. Of the first I must be content to quote Mr. Ernest Law's description.

"In the foreground is a female figure kneeling, and offering a chalice"—but it certainly is not a chalice; it is much more like a cake-dish—"to a man standing opposite to her, who appears to be admiring it, but refuses to accept it from her. By her side is an elderly lady conducting her forward, presenting her to the man, and a number of other people looking on.