DOI issue:
No. 206 (April, 1914)
DOI article:A mountain-painter from Maine
DOI article:De Kay, Charles: What tale does this tapestry tell?, [2]
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43455#0406
VThat Tale does this Tapestry Tell?
PENCIL DRAWING
BY G. LORENZO NOYES
grander mountain, lake and forest scenes of Maine
and New Hampshire expressed upon canvas, with
that interpretation which his pencil sketches so
charmingly express.
WHAT TALE DOES THIS TAPESTRY
TELL?
After the appearance of an article under the
above heading by Mr.
Charles de Kay, some
dissenting letters were
received, notably one
from Mr. Lewis, Presi¬
dent of Pennsylvania
Academy. This letter
appeared in full in our
last issue, and we now
publish a rejoinder from
Mr. de Kay, who makes
a very able defense of
his opinion. Audi al¬
teram partem.
To the Editor of The
International Studio .
Sir—Mr. Lewis is not
alone in fancying that
the tapestry you pub¬
lished in your January
number refers to King
David and Bathsheba,
the wife of Uriah the
Hittite. But we must
beware of such attribu-
tions; they belong
to a period when
there was a plenti-
ful lack of knowl-
edge about the
manners and cus-
toms of the Middle
Ages. Not being
able to pillage
Shakespeare, as,
after all, a bit too
late, the commen-
tators on stained
glass, tapestry,
ivories and medals
found it easiest to
explain everything
from the Bible.
The reason is ob-
vious. Owing to
their sanctity and
substantial build the churches and monasteries
preserved such things, while castles and the
homes of rich burghers were plundered and ruined
by fire. The majority of objects saved were nat-
urally those religious in theme. Hence the pre-
ponderance of Scriptural stories in the art of the
Middle Ages, and the resulting idea that the people
thought only of religion. Hence the tendency in
the last century to twist the unlikeliest subjects
PENCIL DRAWING
BY G. LORENZO NOYES
XLIX
PENCIL DRAWING
BY G. LORENZO NOYES
grander mountain, lake and forest scenes of Maine
and New Hampshire expressed upon canvas, with
that interpretation which his pencil sketches so
charmingly express.
WHAT TALE DOES THIS TAPESTRY
TELL?
After the appearance of an article under the
above heading by Mr.
Charles de Kay, some
dissenting letters were
received, notably one
from Mr. Lewis, Presi¬
dent of Pennsylvania
Academy. This letter
appeared in full in our
last issue, and we now
publish a rejoinder from
Mr. de Kay, who makes
a very able defense of
his opinion. Audi al¬
teram partem.
To the Editor of The
International Studio .
Sir—Mr. Lewis is not
alone in fancying that
the tapestry you pub¬
lished in your January
number refers to King
David and Bathsheba,
the wife of Uriah the
Hittite. But we must
beware of such attribu-
tions; they belong
to a period when
there was a plenti-
ful lack of knowl-
edge about the
manners and cus-
toms of the Middle
Ages. Not being
able to pillage
Shakespeare, as,
after all, a bit too
late, the commen-
tators on stained
glass, tapestry,
ivories and medals
found it easiest to
explain everything
from the Bible.
The reason is ob-
vious. Owing to
their sanctity and
substantial build the churches and monasteries
preserved such things, while castles and the
homes of rich burghers were plundered and ruined
by fire. The majority of objects saved were nat-
urally those religious in theme. Hence the pre-
ponderance of Scriptural stories in the art of the
Middle Ages, and the resulting idea that the people
thought only of religion. Hence the tendency in
the last century to twist the unlikeliest subjects
PENCIL DRAWING
BY G. LORENZO NOYES
XLIX