Woven in wool and silk depicting the young Cyrus the Great and an accompanying soldier, each offering a severed head to another soldier, in the foreground, dense leafy floral sprays and a stylized leopard, in the middle group warriors in combat before a camp site, in the background, mounted soldiers with leafy trees, a bridge and town on a ridge in the distance, in a broad border depicting the virtues linked by stylized sprays and pictorial cartouches, the Brussels town mark BB and the mark of the weaver or the commissioner woven in the outer stripe.

The mythical history of Cyrus the Great inspired two important tapestry series in the 16th Century. The quasi-historical tale of royal ambition and treachery, although remote in time and space, had contemporary parallels and interest for Renaissance viewers. It also enabled the tapestry designers to show rich costumes, settings and to depict dramatic action. Cyrus was born in 558BC son of Cambyses I. He founded the Persian Empire, was attacked by a coalition of Babylon, Egypt, Lydia and Sparta. His military successes were achieved by guile. He died fighting a barbaric Scythian queen. The first Cyrus series, designed about 1535, can be seen in five panels at the Isabella Stewart Gardens Museum, Boston. They deal with Cyrus's youth and early successes. The mark of Brussels, Jan der Moyen and an unidentified weaver appears on some of the panels. Another Cyrus series was designed in the second half of the sixteenth century. Michel Coxlie has been proposed as designer of the first edition of the second series. The Patrimonio Nacional of Spain owns two sets. The designs were woven several times, with various borders; one edition has a border dominant with animal motifs, another combines virtues and floral forms. This example is similar to the later border type. Other editions of Cyrus are known, the Countess of Clanwilliam once owned fours pieces by Jan Van Tieghem. Another set of four belongs to the Marquess of Bath at Longleat House, Warminster. In accordance with an ordinance of 16th May 1528, each tapestry woven in Brussels of a certain size had to have the Brussels town mark woven in, as well as a mark for the weaver or whoever had commissioned it. The town mark consists of a plain red shield with a capital letter B on each side, which is understood to stand for Brabant-Brussels. This mark of Brussels and possibly the mark of the commissioner exist on this example. The combination of the finely drawn details, colour and superb condition make this tapestry highly sought after on the market today.

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