Pause for a moment. What part of this scene piques your interest? Is it the figures in conversation around the gilded globe? 🌏 Maybe it's the majestic peacock perched above their heads? 🦚 Any chance that it's intricate, elegant border of the tapestry? 🖼 It's hard to miss the elaborate clothing and drapery adorning nearly every corner of the foreground, adding a regal air to the outdoor scene. This tapestry is from the series known as The Story of the Emperor of China. European and Chinese figures assemble on a stone terrace around an elaborately mounted globe. In the center of the group stands the Chinese emperor, wearing the imperial insignia of the winged dragon and gesturing with one hand while the other rests possessively on the globe. The bearded man taking a measurement on the globe with a pair of dividers is the German Jesuit priest Father Schall von Bell, who attained a high rank in the Qing court through his knowledge of Western astronomy. He headed the Imperial Astronom...