Honor by Bernard van Orley (1525)

This is the upper left quadrant of the Honor tapestry.  It was the central tapestry in a series known collectively since the sixteenth century as The Honors. The series presents an allegorical guide to the qualities of a successful ruler in the face of unpredictable Fortune: Prudence, Virtue, Faith, Honor, Fame, and Justice. In Honor, a male personification of Honor is about to be crowned above his two-tier tribunal of honorable men and ladies from history, the Bible, and secular legends. At the center, a scribe checks the list of those honorable enough to be granted entry to Honor's pavilion. In the foreground, a wonderfully unruly mass of dishonorable legendary protagonists tries to scale Honor's walls.  One of only two sixteenth-century editions known to have survived, this set was made sometime after 1525 for Charles V's trusted advisor, and one of the most powerful men of his generation, Cardinal Erard de la Marck, prince-bishop of Liège.