Detail of Saint Veronica, Flemish, probably Brussels, ca. 1525,
wool, silk, gilded silver metal-wrapped threads
(18-21 warps per inch, 7-8 per cm.),
0verall: 68 × 51 in. (172.7 × 129.5 cm)
on view in the exhibition Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 7, 2017 - June 23, 2018
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Photo: Hillary Ganton
For over 300 years, from the late fourteenth century to the early eighteenth century, tapestries were more valued than paintings.* Today this is the opposite.
The tapestries' early high-ranking among art forms is attributed to their functionality, complexity of production, cost of materials as well as aesthetic appeal. Only the rich could afford them. The large tapestries insulated cold, drafty rooms in addition to bringing color and visual warmth to dim spaces. The installation of a set of four seventeenth-century French wall hangings in gallery 531 (Decorative Arts Under Louis XIV), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York gives visitors a sense of what it would be like to be in a room hung with tapestries.
In traditional paintings, the painting's surface is like an open window through which the subject of the work is seen. With tapestries, however, partly because of their considerable size, the viewer feels himself within the composition.
The painting, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, ca. 1540, Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrates the "view through the window" effect.
by a follower of Quentin Metsys (Netherlandish, mid-16th century)
Mary and her son Jesus are portrayed in the foreground, close to the viewer. Behind them in the middle distance to the right, we see Joseph and a donkey.
Detail of The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, ca. 1540,
A scene of violence takes place in a village setting in the left background. Running figures are being chased and other figures on the ground are being beaten. Far off, on the road leading in and out of town, soldiers on horseback are ready to continue Herod's carnage.
A spectator standing in front of such a painting, looks through to a world beyond. A tapestry on the other hand does impart a different experience.
The tapestries' early high-ranking among art forms is attributed to their functionality, complexity of production, cost of materials as well as aesthetic appeal. Only the rich could afford them. The large tapestries insulated cold, drafty rooms in addition to bringing color and visual warmth to dim spaces. The installation of a set of four seventeenth-century French wall hangings in gallery 531 (Decorative Arts Under Louis XIV), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York gives visitors a sense of what it would be like to be in a room hung with tapestries.
Installation view of Seasons and Elements (set of four wall hangings),
possibly after a design by Charles Le Brun (1619 – 1690),
border probably designed by Jean Lemoyen le Lorrain (1637/38–1709),
ca. 1683, canvas; silk, wool, and metal-thread embroidery in tent stitch,
Gallery 531, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Photo: Hillary Ganton
In traditional paintings, the painting's surface is like an open window through which the subject of the work is seen. With tapestries, however, partly because of their considerable size, the viewer feels himself within the composition.
The painting, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, ca. 1540, Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrates the "view through the window" effect.
Installation view of The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, ca. 1540,
and Master of the Liège Disciples at Emmaus (Netherlandish, active mid-16th century),
oil on wood, 37 1/2 x 30 1/4 in. (95.3 x 76.8 cm),
on view in the exhibition Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 7, 2017 - June 23, 2018
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Photo: Hillary Ganton
Mary and her son Jesus are portrayed in the foreground, close to the viewer. Behind them in the middle distance to the right, we see Joseph and a donkey.
Detail of The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, ca. 1540,
by a follower of Quentin Metsys (Netherlandish, mid-16th century)
and Master of the Liège Disciples at Emmaus (Netherlandish, active mid-16th century),
oil on wood, 37 1/2 x 30 1/4 in. (95.3 x 76.8 cm)
on view in the exhibition Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 7, 2017 - June 23, 2018
The Flight into Egypt refers to the story in the Gospel of Matthew where Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt with Jesus to escape King Herod's massacre of male newborns.
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, recounted by early Christian writers, gave artists the opportunity to paint detailed imaginary landscapes. This is clearly demonstrated in the Metropolitan Museum's panel.
Detail of The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, ca. 1540,
by a follower of Quentin Metsys (Netherlandish, mid-16th century)
and Master of the Liège Disciples at Emmaus (Netherlandish, active mid-16th century),
oil on wood, 37 1/2 x 30 1/4 in. (95.3 x 76.8 cm)
on view in the exhibition Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 7, 2017 - June 23, 2018
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Photo: Hillary Ganton
Executed in various atmospheric shades of gray suggesting distance, the painting's right background shows a countryside and city.
by a follower of Quentin Metsys (Netherlandish, mid-16th century)
and Master of the Liège Disciples at Emmaus (Netherlandish, active mid-16th century),
oil on wood, 37 1/2 x 30 1/4 in. (95.3 x 76.8 cm)
on view in the exhibition Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 7, 2017 - June 23, 2018
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Photo: Hillary Ganton
A scene of violence takes place in a village setting in the left background. Running figures are being chased and other figures on the ground are being beaten. Far off, on the road leading in and out of town, soldiers on horseback are ready to continue Herod's carnage.
A spectator standing in front of such a painting, looks through to a world beyond. A tapestry on the other hand does impart a different experience.
Saint Veronica, Flemish, probably Brussels, ca. 1525,
wool, silk, gilded silver metal-wrapped threads
(18-21 warps per inch, 7-8 per cm.),
0verall: 68 × 51 in. (172.7 × 129.5 cm)
on view in the exhibition Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 7, 2017 - June 23, 2018
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Photo: Hillary Ganton
Expansive wall coverings makes it possible to show life-size figures and backgrounds that are so big an observer can imagine walking into the represented space. The view is unlike a window through which one sees things. Rather, the depictions convey a palpable sense that the spectator is actually in the physical arena of what is portrayed.
On a somewhat smaller scale, the Metropolitan Museum's Saint Veronica tapestry, approximately 5 1/2 by 4 feet, is an example of this illusion. The saint is seen holding up the cloth she had given Christ to dry his bloodied, sweaty face on the way to his crucifixion. The image of Christ's face became imprinted on the cloth.
On a somewhat smaller scale, the Metropolitan Museum's Saint Veronica tapestry, approximately 5 1/2 by 4 feet, is an example of this illusion. The saint is seen holding up the cloth she had given Christ to dry his bloodied, sweaty face on the way to his crucifixion. The image of Christ's face became imprinted on the cloth.
Detail of Saint Veronica, Flemish, probably Brussels, ca. 1525,
wool, silk, gilded silver metal-wrapped threads
(18-21 warps per inch, 7-8 per cm.),
0verall: 68 × 51 in. (172.7 × 129.5 cm)
on view in the exhibition Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 7, 2017 - June 23, 2018
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Photo: Hillary Ganton
Veronica appears to be coming into the observer's realm as the top of her head overlaps the scene's enclosing border. Behind her, the middle and far background landscapes have biblical allusions.
The tapestry works on three planes or spatial relationships. There is the plane of the room's walls which is flush with the tapestry's woven frame. There is the plane or space that recedes back into the landscape behind and around the main figure and, there is the plane or space of the viewer which the saint and what she is holding appears to have entered.
Another later tapestry, Shepherds and Shepherdesses Dancing, on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, gallery 549, depicts three men and three women dancing in a woodland setting. A pile of musical instruments lies on the ground in front of the dancers next to a stream.
The large scale and three-dimensionality of the frontal plane entices spectators to step in and join the fun. With imagination, the viewer could feel like he or she is doing just that.
The immediacy of tapestries was taken up by huge mural painters starting in the Renaissance. This is also the objective of today's Virtual Reality.
The above is an attempt to present the case for a distinctive response to two art forms, tapestries and paintings. In general, tapestries have been neglected and overlooked by contemporary museum visitors. Readers, it is hoped, will no longer let these woven works go unnoticed.
View of Shepherds and Shepherdesses Dancing,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, gallery 549.
From a set of tapestries of mythological subjects after Giulio Romano,
designed 1684–86, woven 1689–92,
cartoon painted by Pierre Monier (French, Blois 1641–1703 Paris),
woven in the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins (French, established 1662),
woven in the workshop directed by Jean Le Febvre the Elder (active 1662–1700),
silk and metal thread (20-26 warps per inch, 8-12 per cm.),
H. 144 x W. 138 inches (365.8 x 350.5 cm)
Detail of Shepherds and Shepherdesses Dancing,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, gallery 549.
From a set of tapestries of mythological subjects after Giulio Romano,
designed 1684–86, woven 1689–92,
cartoon painted by Pierre Monier (French, Blois 1641–1703 Paris),
woven in the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins (French, established 1662),
woven in the workshop directed by Jean Le Febvre the Elder (active 1662–1700),
silk and metal thread (20-26 warps per inch, 8-12 per cm.),
H. 144 x W. 138 inches (365.8 x 350.5 cm)
The large scale and three-dimensionality of the frontal plane entices spectators to step in and join the fun. With imagination, the viewer could feel like he or she is doing just that.
The immediacy of tapestries was taken up by huge mural painters starting in the Renaissance. This is also the objective of today's Virtual Reality.
The above is an attempt to present the case for a distinctive response to two art forms, tapestries and paintings. In general, tapestries have been neglected and overlooked by contemporary museum visitors. Readers, it is hoped, will no longer let these woven works go unnoticed.
*See ArtWithHillary April 2018 and February 2015.
Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance
August 7, 2017 - June 23, 2018
August 7, 2017 - June 23, 2018
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