rtieres, only door-hangings, is a fact too important
to be slipped by. It denotes one of the greatest changes in tapestries
when the size of a hanging comes down from twenty or thirty feet to
the dimensions of a doorway. It speaks a great change in interiors,
and sets tapestries on a new plane. Later on, they are still further
diminished. But the sadness of noting this change is routed by the
thrills of pleasure given by the exquisite design, colour and weave.

The _Portieres of the Gods_ was, then, a series of eight small
hangings, four typifying the seasons and four the elements, with an
appropriate Olympian forming the central point of interest and the
excuse for an entourage of thrilling and graceful versatility. This
set has been copied so many times that even the most expert must fail
in trying to identify the date of reproduction. Two hundred and thirty
times this set is known to have been reproduced, and such talented
weavers were given the task as Jans and Lefebvre.

[Illustration: GOBELINS TAPESTRY. TIME OF LOUIS XV]

In this exquisite period, which might be called the adolescence of
the style Louis XV, Audran and his collaborators produced another
marvellous and inspired set of portieres. These were executed for the
Grand Dauphin, to decorate his room in the chateau at Meudon, and were
called the _Grotesque Months in Bands_. The most self-sufficient of
pens would falter at a description of design so exquisite, which is
arranged in three panels with a deity in each, a composition of
extraordinary grace above and below them, and a bordering band of
losenge or diaper, on which is set the royal double L and the
significant dolphin who gave his name to kings' sons. The exquisite
art of Audran and of the regence cannot be better seen than in this
set of tapestries which was woven but once at the royal factory,
although repeated many times elsewhere with the border altered,
Audran's being too personal for other chambers than that of the prince
for whom it was composed. Recently copies have been made without
border.

The name of the artist, Charles Coypel, must not be overlooked, for it
was he who composed the celebrated suite of _Don Quixote_.
Twenty-eight pieces composed the series, and they were drawn with that
exquisite combination of romantic scenes and fields of pure decorative
design that characterised the charm of the regence. In the centre of
each piece (small pieces compared to those of Louis XIV) was