compositions, Gaude gloriosa Dei mater for six voices. On
the abolition of the Sarum rite in 1559, Tallis’s Latin set-
tings were probably no longer used liturgically. He was
one of the first musicians to compose for the Anglican
liturgy of 1547–53; his settings from this period are suc-
cinct, with little polyphony and more use of chords.
Tallis’s music thus embraces several styles largely dictated
by the religious upheavals of the time; his 40-part motet,
Spem in alium, is a curiosity of the mid-Tudor contrapun-
tal style, while his Anglican anthems tend towards ho-
mophony and simplicity. A few keyboard works survive,
among which are the earliest datable English plainsong
settings.
Tansillo, Luigi (1510–1568) Italian courtier and poet
From 1535 Tansillo, who was born at Venosa, served in
administrative and military posts under the Spanish
viceroys of Naples, taking an active part in many cam-
paigns. A prolific author, he was influenced by Giovanni
PONTANOand Jacopo SANNAZARO. His work is associated
with Mannerism in its style but formally various, ranging
from Petrarchan sonnet and eclogue to didactic poetry and
religious verse suggestive of the Baroque. Il vendemmiatore
(The Grape Harvester; 1532) gained notoriety for suppos-
edly licentious passages and was put on the Index of
forbidden books. To make amends, Tansillo devoted years
to his epic Le lagrime de San Pietro (The Tears of St.
Peter; 1585), notable mainly as the model for François de
MALHERBE. Numerous lyrics, anthologized in Venice by
Gabriele Giolito (1552), achieved wide circulation. The
didactic La balia (The Nurse; 1566) was written to en-
courage mothers to nurse their own babies.
tapestry During the 15th century most European re-
quirements for tapestries were met by workshops in
France and Flanders. In Italy small workshops under
noble patronage flourished sporadically, only that at Fer-
rara, founded (c. 1445) by Leonello d’Este, being of much
importance. Using Flemish weavers, it executed cartoons
by the local painter Cosimo TURA. Throughout the Italian
Renaissance tapestry weaving was subordinated to paint-
ing, so that for instance the famous Acts of the Apostles,
commissioned in Brussels by Pope Leo X after cartoons by
Raphael, made no concession to the possibilities of tapes-
try as a medium.
When war brought about the decline of the 15th-
century centers of Arras and Tournai, Brussels became the
main source for European tapestry (see also PANNEMAKER
FAMILY). Its characteristic Renaissance style was estab-
lished by the Flemish painter Bernard van ORLEY. His early
work reflects medieval influence but later on that of the
Raphael cartoons prevails. In designs based on biblical
and historical narrative van Orley attempted to harmonize
the Flemish taste for genre and narrative and the Italian
preference for monumentality with the artistic potential of
tapestry. A famous example of his work is the series the
Hunts of Maximilian I (c. 1530; Louvre, Paris). Other
minor centers in 16th-century Flanders, such as Oude-
naarde, produced verdures (tapestries with designs of
trees and other vegetation).
In France tapestries were made at FONTAINEBLEAU
under the patronage of Francis I from 1538, using Flem-
ish weavers to execute cartoons by the king’s Italian
painters. These were the first tapestries to imitate paint-
ings in the trompe l’oeil manner. In Italy, where the warmer
climate made wall-hangings less essential to comfort in
drafty palaces, the most important workshop was estab-
lished (1545) by Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici at Florence.
Run by Flemish craftsmen, such as Jan Rost (or Rossi;
died 1564), who came from Brussels via a sojourn
(1536–45) in Ferrara, it worked from cartoons by the
leading Florentine mannerists, Pontormo and Bronzino. It
also executed some fine tapestries designed by Bachiacca
(1490–1557) of grotesques on a yellow ground (Uffizi,
Florence).Tartaglia, Niccolò (1499–1557) Italian mathematician
Born Niccolò Fontana at Brescia, Lombardy, Tartaglia de-
rived his name “stammerer” from the impediment to his
speech caused by the wounds he received at the hands ofTTaarrttaagglliiaa,, NNiiccccoollooìì 4 45577Niccolò TartagliaA woodcut of the author from the first
volume of his Trattato di numeri et misure(1556), an
encyclopedic work on elementary mathematics.