tapestries

This was not my first visit to an art museum. In fact, I have been to the Columbia Museum of Art many times before. I saw the "Turner to Cezanne" exhibit there a year ago. It was a wonderful exhibit and I really enjoy going to museums.
I went to the museum on Sunday. The museum's free on Sundays (which is nice) and this Sunday they were having a Museum Members party. So it was pretty busy in there.
I did visit the museum store. They have the greatest collection of creative and unique children's toys, which I totally didn't expect. The store is full of great things. I wasn't able to buy anything, but ooohh did I want to.
The tapestries come from Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. This collection of very old Flemish tapestries come from the collection of King Matthias of the Holy Roman Empire. The tapestries depict the story of Romulus and Remus. The story is that Aeneas is a fugitive of Troy after its destruction and he has two sons: Numitor and Amulius. Numitor becomes king after his father's death and Amulius inherts the treasury. Amulius uses his power to overthrow Numitor and places Rhea Silvia (Numitor's daughter) in the vestel virgins to prevent her bearing any children, or heirs to the throne. But Mars, the god of war, seduces and impregnates Rhea Silvia. She had twin boys: Romulus and Remus. Amulius orders her death and that her sons be killed too. The servant in charge of killing Romulus and Remus instead places them in a basket in the Tiber River. The twins are eventually found and cared for by a she-wolf. Faustulus, a shepherd discovers the twins and he takes them to his home to care for them with his wife. Romulus and Remus are raised as shepherds and one day they come in contact with Amulius. The king discovers the boys' true identity. Thereby, Remus is captured, so Romulus gets together a band of shepherds to save his brother. They do save Remus and kill Numitor. They restore their still living grandfather, Aeneas, to the throne. And the two brothers set off to found their own city. They argued over the site for their new city. Remus offended his brother and Romulus slew him. The area Romulus choose for the city was Palatine Hill and eventually became Rome.
I have heard the story before but it was extremely helpful to have visual aides explaining the story while I was hearing the story told by the museum guide. I didn't get a picture of the works. I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to photograph them and I didn't want to create a disturbance. I learned that the tapestries were decroative but mostly symbolized wealth for the owner. Also, these wall hangings acted as insulation, keeping the room warmer. They were also tedious and difficult to make, taking as many as thrity weavers two months to finish one tapestry. These tapestries are also very old, made in the 16th century I believe.