International studio (50.1913)

Tapestries in American Museums



MORGAN MEMORIAL AT HARTFORD

BRITOMART

BOSTON MUSEUM
OF FINE ARTS

SCIPIO UPBRAIDING
MASINISSA

pharaon grand’ joiie lui fist et a son pere donna
la terre gessen qu’il requist comjoseph il guerdonna
which translated are:
“In the year of the world 2500 came Jacob
as ordered. Pharaoh made great joy over him
and as a reward to Joseph gave his father the
land of Goshen for which he asked.”
But while the meaning is clear, there are
some difficulties about the translation. The
verses are rhymed—guerdonna, donna, ordonna
—requist, fist, and, consequently, veist. But
veist is the preterite of veoir (see), not of venir
(come). The explanation I leave to another,
merely suggesting that similar difficulties are
often found in tapestry captions in Latin as well
as in Old French. Perhaps they may sometimes
have been due to illiteracy on the part of the
weaver. We know that they have often been
due to illiteracy on the part of the repairer.
The lettering on the right of the verses reads,
translated, Joseph the Saviour; that on the left
reads abundant, habundant, which is a doublet
suggesting the idea of abundance.
Another important Gothic tapestry in the
Boston Museum, this one owned by the Mu-
seum, is the Crossing of the Red Sea, 13 feet 9
by 19 feet 3, a little later in date than the
Crucifixion, and exquisite in weave and color-
ing. The blues are particularly fine,*andjthe

tapestry amateurs in the country, and that to
his efforts was due the very creditable loan ex-
hibition of tapestries at the Boston Museum of
Fine Arts in 1893, for the descriptive catalogue
of which Mr. Macomber wrote the introduction
and made most of the attributions. To Mr.
Macomber more than any other is due the pres-
ent tapestry affluence of the Boston Museum;
and the libraries of both the Boston and the
New York museums are eager to acquire his
unique collection of books on tapestry.
To resume my narrative, the Story of Joseph
11 feet 11 by 10 feet 11, a little later in date
than the Chicago Crucifixion, pictures the pres-
entation of Jacob to Pharaoh by his son Joseph.
The story is told by the old French verses above
in Gothic lettering, and the different characters
are identified by having the names woven into
their garments—Joseph, Zebulun, Pharaoh,
Levi, Judah, Reuben. In transcribing the
Gothic letters, note that abbreviation is indi-
cated by a long accent mark above the pre-
ceding letter, i.e., rube with a horizontal line
over the “e” for Reuben. The old French
verses read:
en mmd ans du monde veist jacob que ordonna

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