Gideon Tapestries Hardwick Hall

Gideon Tapestries at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire

The enormous Gideon Tapestries line the Long Gallery at Hardwick Hall. — The enormous Gideon Tapestries line the Long Gallery at Hardwick Hall

The Gideon Tapestries are a set of 13 tapestries that line the Long Gallery at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire. They tell the biblical story of Gideon, a judge and military leader of Israel, and his victory over the Midianites.

The huge Flemish tapestries, 6 meters in height and more than 70 meters in length, have been completely restored following a 24-year project by the National Trust.

Bess of Hardwick paid the then enormous sum of £326 15s 9d for the tapestries while on a spending spree in London between 1592-1593 to decorate her new house. The sum (about £100,000 in today's money) was the largest single purchase she made for Hardwick Hall. She negotiated a discount of almost £4 (about £1,265 today) as she had to paint over Hatton's coat of arms, a golden hind, and convert it to her own Cavendish stag.

The tapestries have hung in the Long Gallery since their purchase. — The tapestries have hung in the Long Gallery since their purchase

Bess brought some items to Hardwick Hall from Chatsworth House where she had lived with her fourth husband, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. However, she still needed to invest in decorations for her dream house. The magnificent material contents of the house are a powerful statement about its owner as she displays her wealth and power. With her initials 'ES' prominently displayed on the roof, Bess shows how far she has risen. In some ways Hardwick Hall is the Elizabethan version of Mar-a-Lago built to show off the wealth of heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1920's Florida and now owned by Donald Trump.

Other tapestries at Hardwick Hall include a set of eight Flemish tapestries depicting The Homecoming of Ulysses which may have been acquired by George Talbot.