International studio (50.1913)

Tapestries in American Museums

politan. The texture is comparatively coarse, but
exactly suited to the pictures interpreted, and con-
sequently especially interesting from the points of
view of tapestry and decoration. The border is a
woven reproduction of carved Gothic fretwork.
The oldest tapestry—and for that reason in
some respects the most interesting exhibited at
any of the museums whose collections I describe
in this article—is the Gothic Crucifixion with
Other Scenes at the Chicago Art Institute, the gift
of the Antiquarians, a society whose special and
noble mission it is to actively encourage the
growth of the Institute collections. This tapestry,
illustrated on page lxiv, though not of the four-
teenth century, as labeled, is at least half a century
older than the Boston Crucifixion, and though
much mutilated and repaired, and only 8 feet 5 by
16 feet 5, without border, merits the most earnest
attention. A tapestry that it closely resembles is
the Crucifixion, in the Brussels Museum, 13 feet 9
by 29 feet 2, bought at the Somzee sale (see page
342 of my book on Tapestries) in 1901, for 70,000
francs ($14,000). Both tapestries were woven in

Flanders (then ruled by the Duke of Burgundy)
and both have mille fleur grounds and the strong
and simple coloration characteristic of the period.
The arrangement of both is similar, the Crucifixion
in the middle with the Resurrection on the right;
but on the left the Brussels tapestry has the Bear-
ing of the Cross, while the Chicago tapestry has
the Last Supper. Instead of the two thieves that
appear in the Brussels tapestry, the Chicago one
has two angels, and fewer personages, as is con-
sonant with its smaller size. Of course the cross
in both bears the inscription I N R I. An inter-
esting feature of the Chicago tapestry are the two
coats-of-arms on each side of the Cross. The one
on the right is several inches higher than the one
on the left, indicating the extent to which the
tapestry has been reshaped during its long career.
Both shields have a blue ground, the one on the
left bearing three stars and crossed by a horizontal
cream-colored band, bearing three boars’ heads.
This band is modern, and the boars’ heads are
painted on—not woven—with three stitches of
embroidery to help the illusion. The shield on


INTERVIEW OF HANNIBAL AND SCIPIO

BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

LX VI