Description
"But Melchisedec, king of Salem, offering bread and wine, because he was a priest of God Most High, / Blessed Abraham, saying: Blessed be Adam of the most high God, who created heaven and earth: / And blessed be God the most high, who by his protection has put your enemies into your hands. So Abraham gave him a tithe of everything he had taken. (Genesis, XIV, 18-20).
It is with these few lines that the Old Testament evokes, almost furtively, the meeting between Abraham, the famous patriarch of the Bible, and Melchisedek, king and high priest, of whom there is little mention elsewhere, apart from a few brief allusions.
Yet this episode is essential, and it was very early on set against the moment of the Eucharist, which perpetuates the memory of the Last Supper, the high point of the New Testament. It is for this reason that this passage has been so often depicted, from the Middle Ages to modern times.
Here, a work from the workshops of the Aubusson weavers reproduces the scene. The Aubusson region has specialised in the art of weaving since the end of the Middle Ages, and this activity flourished until the middle of the 17th century. Louis XIV's decision in 1665 to establish Aubusson as a royal manufacture made it one of the most active centres in Europe in this field.