As anachronisms and anatopisms go, slapping a real tennis court in the middle of a scene depicting David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) is a pretty big one. This occurred not once, but at least eleven times in Flanders in the 16^th century.

The series of paintings depict David twice, once as he gazes at the nude Bathsheba bating in a pool, and once as he hands sealed orders to her husband Uriah at the castle gate. In the middle of the scene is a tennis court, where singles or doubles is being played. The tennis court is pretty rudimentary and there is only a hint of a tambour or winning gallery in a couple of the paintings.

Most depict markers sitting on a bench, and some even show a chase being marked by hand.

One example of the painting, held by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachussets, can helpfully be explored here, and more details about the series of unknown origins can be seen here.

 

 

 

The Death of Hyacinth was a popular theme in renaissance art, though most showed the original story where Apollo hits his lover with a discus by accident.

In 1561, however, a new, Italian translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses by Giovanni Andrea dell’Anguillara was published. The story about a discus competition was replaced by a tennis match, which must by now have been a highly regarded and widely known sport.

Presumably inspired by this new translation, the death of Hyacinth could hence be depicted with a tennis racket or a discus.

The most popular depiction is probably that of Giambattista Tiepolo from 1752-3. As well as balls and racket in the foreground, a net and court can be glimpsed behind the crowd of onlookers.

Portrayals of the death of Hyacinth also concerns the most renowned tennis artist, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Unfortunately for him, his renown comes from when he reportedly killed his tennis opponent in 1606 before being forced to flee Rome. An exploration of this famous incident, along with the moment’s inspiration for a Death of Hyacinth painting, can be seen in detail on Cees de Bondt’s blog.

 

 

The most notable tennis event of the 19^th century may have happened on court, but rackets and balls were conspicuously absent. Tennis will forever have a place in French history for its small staging role in the French revolution.  It was 1789 and the third estate gathered on the court at Versailles and said:

“We swear never to separate ourselves from the National Assembly, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the realm is drawn up and fixed upon solid foundations.”

This landmark event of French history was intended to be immortalized in a painting by Jacques-Louis David. In the event, the planned 400 by 660cm work proved to be prohibitively expensive for David, but the surviving sketch provided inspiration for some of his successors. It also is a fine presentation of a tennis court, complete with a clearly identifiable tambour, penthouse and side galleries.

 

 

 

 

Originally commissioned to help fund Leamington Tennis Court Club repair its leaking roof in the early 1980s, The Dinner Match is now one of the most easily recognised paintings in the world of real tennis.

Believed to be the first painting to portray a tennis court front and centre in around 200 years, LTCC have gifted copies of the painting on tours all around the world. Hence you are likely to find The Dinner Match tucked away (or, more likely, front and centre) in the club rooms of every court you visit.

Full details can be found here.