GERMANY, PROBABLY NUREMBERG, MIDDLE XV CENTURY
_Wool and Gold._ H. 3 _ft._ 6 _in._ W. 7 _ft._ 6 _in._ ]
SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST: _The Life of Christ is shown in eight small scenes, beginning with the Entrance into Jerusalem, the Farewell to his Mother, the Last Supper, the Agony in the Garden, the Carrying of the Cross, the Crucifixion, the Pieta, and the Entombment._
The scenes in this tapestry were apparently adapted from the illustrations from a Nuremberg manuscript of the middle of the XVth century. Of course, the weaving may have been done later. The simplified arrangement of the scenes with a reduction to a minimum of the number of actors, the relative size of the figures to the small squares of the compositions, the marked indebtedness in the use of line and light and shade to woodcuts, and the courageous but not altogether easy use of the direct profile, all bring the pieces into close relationship with such book illustrations as those of George Pfinzing's book of travels (_The Pilgrimage to Jerusalem_), now in the City Library of Nuremberg.[3] In fact, the parallelism is so very close, the tapestry may well have been adapted from illustrations by the same man, the curiously conventionalized line-and-dot eyes being very characteristic of the Pfinzing illustrations and not common to all the school.
[Sidenote: Lent by _P. W. French & Company_.]
In weaving many of the figures the warp is curved to follow the contours.
The naïve directness and unassuming sincerity of the piece give it great interest.
_Wool._ H. 10 _ft._ 6 _in._ W. 8 _ft._ 9 _in._ ]
THE HISTORY OF HERCULES: _Hercules, clad in a magnificent suit of shining black armor, rides into the thickest tumult of a furious battle; with sword in his right hand, he skillfully parries the thrust of a huge lance, while with the other hand he deals a swinging backhand blow that smites an enemy footman into insensibility. His next opponent, obviously bewildered and frightened, has half-turned to flee. The whole apparatus of mediæval combat is shown in intense and crowded action. The piece is incomplete._
This tapestry illustrates one of the favorite stories of the Middle Ages, and was undoubtedly originally one of a set. In design it is closely related to the famous _Wars of Troy_ series, many examples of which are known and some of the first sketches for which are in the Louvre. It is also closely related to the _History of Titus_ set in the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Nantilly de Saumur.[4] Both of these sets are signed by Jean Van Room, and this piece also is undoubtedly from his cartoon. All of these pieces were probably woven between 1460 and 1470.