to deliver twelve tapestries with the Old Testament story of David and Nebuchadnezzar and a single tapestry with the story of Susanna and Daniel, none of which have survived. He delivered in the same year a further five tapestries of the Susanna series and two more Daniels. It has been speculated that between 1579 and 1581 the weaving activities ceased. It is not clear whether the Flemish weavers returned to their home country. In this period, Knieper continued to work as the royal painter. He made paintings for the king’s chamber (the story of Gideon) and other rooms as well as the altarpiece for the castle’s chapel. Knieper was also responsible for the maintenance and preservation of the castle’s tapestries. The genealogy In 1581 Frederick II commissioned Knieper's weaving workshop to design and weave a tapestry series of the Danish royal genealogy which would include 111 former Danish kings, as well as the king himself and the Crown Prince Christian III, and of some tapestries of hunting scenes. A similar Swedish tapestry cycle with no less than 143 kings had already been planned in 1560 by the Swedish king Erik XIV. In Denmark, the Swedish artist Antonius Samfleth had painted in 1574 a painted royal series totaling 117 portraits Knieper produced designs for 40 tapestries of the genealogy in 1584 that covered the entire walls of the ballroom at Kronborg Castle. Of these 14 still survive. Behind the life-size portraits Knieper created a rich and vibrant background, with castles and forests, animals and plush vegetation, allegorical profundities, heraldic expressions and ornamentation of an elegance and brilliance not seen in Denmark before. The Throne Baldaquin When this series was completed in 1585, the king commissioned Knieper to make the Throne Baldaquin. The Throne Baldaquin was made of 8 separate tapestry pieces which were woven with silver, gold and silk. It was intended to hang above the heads of the king and queen when they sat at the head of the banquet table. Its rich materials and distinguished and refined style make it probably Northern Europe's most beautiful piece of fabric. It was completed in 1586 and was in 1659 taken by the Swedes as war loot after they sacked Kronborg. It remained in the Swedish royal family until after Karl XV's death it was transferred to the State and is now in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. Portrait painting Knieper is said