New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2007.

Verdure Tapestry with Wild Animals

Manufacturer Unknown

Date1500-1550

MediumWool

DimensionsOverall: 97 x 131 in. (246.4 x 332.7 cm)

ClassificationsEuropean art

Credit LineGift of the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation

Object number2014.3.19

Terms

Deer
Birds
Gothic
Enghien, Belguim

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a large wool tapestry. It is decorated with a stag and two birds. Although faded, the viewer can still see the predominate colors of green and blue of this wool tapestry. A stag at center is partially hidden by the large and abundant plant life. There is a variety of botanical representation both in the scene itself and the border.

Label TextFlemish, 16th century Verdure Tapestry with Wild Animals Wool Gift of the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation 2014.3.19 Scenes of the hunt were a staple of late medieval and Renaissance tapestry design, directly reflecting the leisure activities of the wealthy, landed patrons who commissioned them. In the Flemish tapestry here a wild stag - hiding, no doubt, from pursuing hunters - peers from within a dense screen of foliage enlivened with exotic birds. Almost certainly the scene is a fragment, perhaps the central portion of a larger tapestry which was cut down to fit its current border. Despite this, the dramatic, "close-up" presentation of animals and foliage is masterfully conceived, the various flowers and plants comprising a splendid botanical essay.