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 LOAN EXHIBITION OF 
 
 TAPESTRIES 
 
 ASSEMBLED, ARRANGED AND CATALOGUED 
 BY GEORGE LELAND HUNTER 
 
 During the first week and the last 
 week of the Exhibition, free lecture- 
 promenades by special appoint- 
 ment, when Mr. Hunter will per- 
 sonally conduct visitors through 
 the galleries, explaining the history 
 and artistic significance of the dif- 
 ferent tapestries. 
 
 t 
 
 \ 
 
 THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART 
 
 April Sixth to Twenty-seventh Inclusive 
 
 1919 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/loanexhibitionof00hunt_0 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 E specially great at the present time is the prac- 
 tical and patriotic value of an exhibition of tapes- 
 tries. Under war conditions the art side of American 
 industries began to flourish as never before. Dam- 
 asks, brocades and velvets, chintzes and cretonnes and 
 wall papers that we used to import we now produce for 
 ourselves, and even export. 
 
 But if we are to continue to hold our American mar- 
 kets after the war, and gain others in the face of renewed 
 European competition, we must continue to elevate the 
 standards of our art industries and learn to rival even the 
 French in matters of style and taste. 
 
 To those who by their generosity have made possible 
 this extraordinary exhibition of tapestries at the Detroit 
 Museum of Art, the city, the state and the country are 
 deeply indebted. For tapestries more than any other 
 form of decorative art have the power to inspire archi- 
 tects, decorators, designers, students, teachers, manu- 
 facturers, and the public to appreciation of what good 
 taste really is, and to the creation and acquisition of 
 better things. 
 
 Tapestries have a triple excellence. They possess not 
 only the picture interest of photographs and paintings, 
 but also the story interest of novels and romances, and 
 the texture interest of damasks, velvets and brocades, 
 embroideries and Oriental rugs. 
 
 Tapestries need only to be seen to be appreciated. 
 They are a form of art easy to understand. They do not 
 require the development of an esoteric sense to be thrilled 
 by their wonderful qualities. 
 
 But it is necessary to regard them from the tapestry 
 point of view. For the tapestry point of view and the 
 paint point of view are diametrically opposed. The quali- 
 ties that distinguish most great tapestries are not those 
 that they share with paintings, but those that differentiate 
 them from paintings. In other words, of tapestries the 
 most characteristic part is the texture. 
 
 Texture is what makes tapestries the fundamental wall 
 
4 
 
 THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART 
 
 decoration. Their surface consists of horizontal ribs cov- 
 ered with fine vertical weft threads that combine into 
 strong spires of color called hatchings. So that their 
 fundamental lines, like those of architecture, are hori- 
 zontal and vertical, and not approximately so, but ex- 
 actly so, true to the plumb line. This is why tapestries 
 cling to the walls of a room decoratively and architectur- 
 ally, while paintings have to be fenced in to keep them 
 from falling off. 
 
 Tapestry is a broad word. In its broadest sense it 
 includes all the fabrics used to cover the walls and floors 
 of houses. In its broadest sense it includes not only the 
 upholstery and drapery products of the hand loom and 
 the power loom, but also carpets and rugs, embroideries 
 and leathers, cloths painted and printed and stenciled. 
 In the narrowest sense it is restricted exclusively to the 
 pictured webs of “high warp” and “low warp” looms, 
 looms that are vastly simpler than the ordinary hand 
 loom, still using the bobbin instead of the shuttle to con- 
 vey the weft in its passage back and forth between the 
 warps. 
 
 Primitive tapestries have been woven by many primi- 
 tive peoples. Material evidence we have of this in the 
 European and American museum collections of ancient 
 Coptic and Peruvian textiles, and also in the Oriental 
 kelims, Tunisian blankets, Mexican serapes and Navajo 
 rugs so familiar to most of us. Even the very beautiful 
 Chinese silk tapestries must be classed among the primi- 
 tives. 
 
 Practically all the world’s great tapestries that sur- 
 vive — tapestries of the type made famous by Arras in 
 the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; by Brussels in the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth; by the Gobelins in the seven- 
 teenth and since — are French or Flemish, or French and 
 Flemish, and were woven in Flanders or northern France. 
 Those made in Italy and Germany and England were for 
 the most part the work of errant Flemish weavers, and 
 apt to be inferior in weave and dye. 
 
 Of the great tapestries of antiquity, of ancient Greece 
 and Rome, we have only literary evidence, principally 
 Homer and Ovid. From the former we learn that both 
 
LOAN EXHIBITION OF TAPESTRIES 
 
 0 
 
 Helen and Penelope were weavers of tapestry. Of Helen, 
 Homer says: 
 
 Her in the palace at her loom she found, 
 
 The golden web her own sad story crowned, 
 
 The Trojan wars she weaved, herself the prize. 
 
 And the dire triumphs of her fatal eyes; 
 
 and Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, describes thrillingly 
 and also with great technical detail the tapestry-weaving 
 contest between the mortal A^rachne and the goddess Pal- 
 las, the latter picturing vividly and wonderfully the Gods 
 in Council, the former the loves of the Gods. But of 
 French-Flemish tapestries. Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque 
 and Eighteenth Century, hundreds of the most splendid 
 examples have been preserved not only in European public 
 and private collections, especially in the French National 
 Collection, the Royal Spanish Collection, the Imperial 
 Austrian Collection, but also in America, in the Blumen- 
 thal, Widener, Bradley, Harriman, and other famous 
 private collections, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 
 and in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. 
 
 All of the world’s great tapestries that survive were 
 woven in the space of five centuries — fourteenth, fif- 
 tenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth — Gothic of the 
 fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Renaissance of the six- 
 teenth, Baroque of the sev^enteenth. Rococo and Classic of 
 the eighteenth — the Gothic tapestries lapping over the 
 first quarter of the sixteenth century, the Renaissance 
 into the seventeenth, the Baroque into the eighteenth. 
 
 Of tapestries made in the fourteenth century almost 
 none remain. The only important exceptions are the 
 small Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, in the Brus- 
 sels Museum; the large King Arthur now on exhibition 
 here; the famous set of the Apocalypse, at the Cathedral 
 of Angers, in France. 
 
 Originally the Apocalypse set consisted of seven tapes- 
 tries 18 feet high with combined length of 472 feet. To- 
 day, through wearing away at the top and bottom, this 
 height is only 14 feet, and of the original 90 scenes there 
 are 70 left. 
 
 About the provenance of these wonderful Apolcalypse 
 tapestries we have the most complete information. (See 
 
6 
 
 THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART 
 
 page 38 of my book on “Tapestries”). They were woven 
 in Paris in the last half of the fourteenth century in the 
 shop of Nicolas Bataille, after cartoons by Hennequin de 
 Bruges, Charles \'.’s court painter, for the king’s brother, 
 the Duke of Anjou. A century later they became the 
 property of the cathedral. 
 
 For hundreds of years they were proudly displayed on 
 feast days and admired by visiting thousands. But when 
 tapestries went out of fashion at the end of the eighteenth 
 century, the canons of the cathedral decided to sell the 
 Apocalypse set. Only the fact that no one would buy 
 prevented the sale. Finally, in 1843, a sale was effected. 
 These priceless examples of the art of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury were disposed of for sixty dollars. 
 
 Meanwhile, not believing that anything Gothic could 
 be beautiful, the canons had succeeded in making the 
 tapestries of the Apocalypse useful. Some they divided 
 into rugs for the chambers of the Bishop’s palace. Others 
 they took out into the green houses on cold nights to 
 spread over the orange trees and keep the frost away. 
 C3ne they cut up into strips and nailed on the stalls of the 
 Bishop’s stables, to keep his horses from bruising them- 
 selves. 
 
 Fortunately, the man who purchased the set for sixty 
 dollars was wiser than the canons, and restored it to the 
 cathedral, of which it is once again the chief treasure, and 
 an object of pilgrimage from all over the world. 
 
 The King Arthur tapestry shown in this exhibition is 
 the only large fourteenth century tapestry I know, except 
 the Apocalypse ones at Angers. 
 
 At the beginning of the sixteenth century came a revo- 
 lution in the design of tapestries. Gothic was replaced by 
 Renaissance, Flemish by Italian. To Raphael and his 
 famous pupil, Giulio Romano, the transformation was 
 largely due. The former with his Acts of the Apostles, 
 the latter with his Scipio, Romulus and Remus, Fruits of 
 War, Grotesque Months and other series, completely 
 changed the prevailing style from Mediaeval to Renais- 
 sance. Flemish designers like Bernard Van Orley and 
 Lucas van Leyden also excelled in the new style. 
 
 In the seventeenth century the tapestry leadership 
 
LOAN EXHIBITION OF TAPESTRIES 
 
 7 
 
 passed from Flanders to France. The Gobelins and 
 Beauvais became the great centers of tapestry produc- 
 tion. 
 
 In the eighteenth century were created the tapestries 
 best suited for most modern residences, after the designs 
 of Boucher, Coypel, Casanova, and Leprince at Beau- 
 vais; after the designs of Coypel, Boucher, Jeaurat, and 
 others at the Gobelins. The most exquisite of these are 
 the Beauvais-Bouchers, so called because designed by 
 Francois Boucher and woven at Beauvais. Aubusson, 
 with improved designs and dyes, also produced charming 
 small panels in the third quarter of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury. 
 
 Few Americans have had an opportunity in their 
 native country to become familiar with Gobelin and Beau- 
 vais tapestries. The only examples in any American 
 museum are the modern Gobelin in the Cincinnati Mus- 
 eum presented as a wedding present to Alice Roosevelt, 
 and the Beauvais-Boucher in the Altman Collection at the 
 New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The other 
 Gobelin and Beauvais-Bouchers in America are locked 
 up in exclusive gallaries not open to the public. 
 
 Of course, the religious center of the exhibition is the 
 Gothic room. In the Middle Ages religion, which is now 
 too often of man’s life a thing apart, permeated his whole 
 existence. In tapestries were pictured before him the 
 sacred stories of the Old Testament and of the New, the 
 Lives of Christ and the Virgin, and of the Saints. At the 
 head of the extraordinary assemblage of Gothic tapes- 
 tries now on exhibition at the Detroit Museum of Art 
 stands the Marriage of David, larger and earlier and more 
 brilliant in execution than any of the famous Stor}' of 
 David set at the Cluny Museum in Paris. Next come 
 the Ecce Homo, rich with gold and silver, and Saint Paul 
 woven for and presented by the Bishop of Beauvais to 
 the Cathedral of Beauvais in 1460. The secular side of 
 life in the fifteenth century is presented by the two splen- 
 did Shepherd and Hunting tapestries, by the Capture of 
 a City, by the Shepherd Lover, Children Playing, and 
 Shepherds Dancing, and the two exquisite mille Jleurs. 
 
8 
 
 THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART 
 
 LECTURE PROMENADES 
 
 During the first week of the exhibition, beginning 
 Monday, April 7, and from April 20 to April 27, Mr. 
 Hunter will give free daily lecture promenades before the 
 tapestries to selected groups from the schools, and church- 
 es, and clubs, and decorative shops and departments, of 
 Detroit. Appointments may be made by letter or tele- 
 phone to the Director of the Museum, Main 1097. 
 
LOAN EXHIBITION OF TAPESTRIES 
 
 9 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE LIST 
 OF 
 
 THE TAPESTRIES EXHIBITED 
 
 1 . KING ARTHUR, an early Gothic tapestry woven in Paris in 
 the last quarter of the fourteenth century. A. favorite theme of 
 tapestry makers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was the 
 Nine Heroes (Preux) ; three pagan, Hector, Alexander, Caesar; 
 three Hebrew, David, Joshua, Judas Maccabaeus; three Christian, 
 Arthur, Charlemagne, Godfrey de Bouillon. Charles V, King of 
 France from 1364 to 1380, had two tapestries picturing the Nine 
 Heroes, and his brother Louis, Duke of Anjou, had one. Similar 
 tapestries were also owned by the king’s other brothers, the Dukes 
 of Burgundy and Berri, but with a tenth Preux added, the contem- 
 porary Hero of the war against England, Bertrand du Guesclin. 
 A contemporary French poem preserved in a manuscript in the 
 Bibliotheque Nationale, reads translated: 
 
 Since he is dead, let him be put in the table 
 Of Maccabaeus, first Hero in renown. 
 
 Of Joshua, David the wise, 
 
 Alexander, Hector, and Absalom, 
 
 Arthur, Charles, Godfrey de Bouillon. 
 
 Now let be named the tenth of them, 
 
 Bertrand, the Preux who like a hero served 
 The azure shield with three golden fleur-de-lis. 
 
 Of all the Gothic Hero tapestries, however, only a few large 
 fragments have survived. The most important are the one shown 
 in this exhibition, from the fourteenth century, and the Bale, Saint 
 Maxent and Fraisse fragments from the fifteenth century. In all 
 King Arthur appears with his traditional coat of arms, “three 
 crowns of gold on azure.’’ He also appears with the same coat of 
 arms in the Triumph of Christ tapestry at the Brussels Museum, 
 and in the Charlemagne tapestry belonging to Mr. George Bhimen- 
 thal. (See plates 370, 371 of Hunter’s “Tapestries, Their Origin, 
 History and Renaissance.’’) 
 
 In the tapestry before us King Arthur wears his coat of arms 
 not only on the pennant that floats from his lance but also upon 
 his breast. He is fully armored and his left hand drews a sword 
 from its sheath. He is vSeated in a throne chair and framed in 
 Gothic architecture of the same type as apj)ears in the famous tour- 
 teenth century set of Apocaly{)se tapestries at the Cathedral of 
 Angers. Indeed, the resemblance between this tajx'stry and the 
 Apocalypse set is in every way striking. Just as the main person- 
 age in each of the Apocalypse sets occupies the full height of the 
 tapestry, while the other scenes are in two rows, one above the 
 other, so here Arthur occupies the full height of the tapestry, and 
 on each side of him are lesser personages arranged in a double tier; 
 
10 
 
 THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART 
 
 above, two archbishops standing in the balconies with archepis- 
 copal cross on staff ; below, two bishops with episcopal crozier (de- 
 riv’ed not from the cross but from the shepherd’s staff). Note- 
 worthy are the jewels displayed by the bishops and archbishops, on 
 their mitres, fastening their cloaks, and on the backs of their hands. 
 Arthur, like the two lesser warriors in the extreme left, has a long 
 flowing beard and long flowing hair of the same type as seen in the 
 Apocalypse. Size, 8 feet by 10 feet 11. Lent by Duveen Brothers. 
 
 2. MARRIAGE OF KING DAVID, the largest tapestry I have 
 ever seen. It is not only larger than any of the famous “Story of 
 David’’ set of ten, in the Cluny Museum, but it is also more beauti- 
 ful in composition, more brilliant in coloring and more exquisite in 
 texture. It is also about fifteen years earlier in date, having been 
 on the loom at the time Columbus discovered America, and conse- 
 quently is much more Gothic in architecture and in spirit, and shows 
 much less evidence of the approach of the Renaissance. The 
 central scene, from which the tapestry takes its name, illustrates the 
 Marriage of King David, after Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, the Hit- 
 tite, had been betrayed to death by David. Only then could David 
 receive Bathsheba at his court as his lawful wife. The chamberlain, 
 who had been sent to fetch Bathsheba, kneels on the left, while 
 Bathsheba kneels on the right; King David sits in majesty upon his 
 throne surrounded by the lords and ladies of his court in brilliant 
 fifteenth century costume. 
 
 The upper scene on the left is the first, chronologically. Here 
 David sees Bathsheba for the first time. This is the scene com- 
 monly called “Bathsheba at the Bath,’’ a picture much more modest 
 in Gothic art than as portrayed by Rubens in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, or Boucher in the eighteenth century. The lower scene on the 
 left pictures the first meeting of David and Bathsheba. He had no 
 sooner seen her than he was impatient to know her better. He sent 
 for her immediately and received her affectionately, as the tapestry 
 shows, to the great scandal of his Court. 
 
 Next comes the marriage scene in the middle, already described, 
 followed by the lower scene on the right, “The Reproach of Nathan,’’ 
 where the prophet bitterly blames David and Bathsheba, seated 
 together on the throne, for the sin that they have committed. The 
 upper scene on the right pictures the grief of David and of Bath- 
 sheba at the mortal illness of their passionately adored child that 
 lies on the bed of which only a corner is visible. Size, 15 feet by 
 29 feet 5. Lent by Duveen Brothers. 
 
 3. PXCE HOMO, a brilliantly beautiful small Gothic tapestry 
 rich with silver and gold, designed by Quentin Massys, and woven 
 at Brussels near the end of the fifteenth century. Already the in- 
 fluence of the Renaissance is seen strongly marked in the archi- 
 tecture, which reveals the familiarity of the artist with the work of 
 archiects and painters in Italy. But the spirit of the composition 
 is vividly French-Flemish Gothic, and the faces and figures are 
 
LOAN EXHIBITION OF TAPESTRIES 
 
 11 
 
 drawn with the passionate individuality and dramatic force charac- 
 teristic of Massys, and so powerfully employed by him in his 
 painted Crucifixions preserved in the museums of Antwerp, London, 
 and Vienna, and in his Entombment at Antwerp. Vigorously, 
 almost cruelly has Massys contrasted, in the tapestry before us, 
 the face of Christ sorrowful and resigned with the jeering counte- 
 nances of his tormentors, and the poor shreds of drapery that cross 
 the shoulders of the thorn-crowned Christ, with the rich robes that 
 fail to conceal the malice of his oppressors. Splendidly here is 
 illustrated the tragic scene described for us in words by vSaint 
 Matthew in the twenty-seventh chapter of the first of the Four 
 Gospels. Impressively is suggested the world power of the ancient 
 Roman Empire (whose local representative was Pilate) by the 
 double eagle that was not as a matter of fact taken for the im- 
 perial symbol until long after Christianity had been adopted as 
 the official religion of the Roman Empire, transforming Jupiter 
 and Juno and the other Olympians from gods to idols. Size, 7 
 feet by 7 feet. Lent by Gimpel & Wildenstein. 
 
 4 . SAINT PAUL, one of a set of tapestries woven for the Bishop 
 of Beauvais, Guillaume de Hellande, and by him presented to the 
 Cathedral of Beauvais in 1460. Bishop Guillaume in his will 
 speaks of having given this set of tapestries to the Cathedral, and 
 in the epitaph on his tomb appear in Latin the words: “He gave 
 decorations, revenues, tapestries, tables.” Marks that identify 
 the tapestry are the coat-of-arms of the Bishopric of Beauvais, the 
 one with the keys in the lower left and the upper right corners, 
 and the family coat-of-arms of Guillaume de Hellande, in the 
 other two corners. The word paiz (peace) that appears on the 
 tapestry eight times shows that peace was just as dear at the end 
 of the Hundred Years War in the fifteenth century, as now in the 
 twentieth century at the end of the World War. Indeed, in the 
 inscription on the last of the tapestries now lost. Bishop Guillaume 
 celebrates the fact that he assumed his bishopric in the year 1444 
 when “God moderated our sufferings and peace was made in France 
 between the powerful French King called Charles of Valois and 
 Henry King of England, in the gentle month of May when the 
 earth bedecks herself with many colors.” 
 
 He ends by saying: “Moved by a virtuous resolve, this same 
 venerable pastor in the year thousand four hundred sixty had 
 made in a lasting manner this set of tapestries.” 
 
 By 1838 when Jubinal wrote, some of the tapestries had already 
 disappeared. But there still sur\dvT‘d at least eleven pieces, 
 containing 23 scenes of which we can locate 20 to-day, 16 in the 
 Cathedral of Beauvais, 1 at the Cherry Museum, and 3 in America. 
 The one before us in 1844 was in the possession of the arcliaeologist, 
 M. Mansard, who restored it to the C athedral, from which it had 
 probably been removed at the time ot the I^rench revolution. 
 Since then, by virtue of the law called Separation ot the C luirch 
 and the State, the heirs of M. Mansard asked tor the return ot the 
 
12 
 
 THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART 
 
 tapestry and judgment was rendered in their favor, which is why 
 the present owners are able to lend it for the Detroit exhibition. 
 I regard it as the finest of the set still preserved. 
 
 Ths stor\' of the tapestry appears on the face of it in French in 
 Gothic letters: “How Saint Paul was beheaded outside the city 
 
 of Rome. His head when separated from the trunk, rebounded 
 three times.” In the lower right corner of the tapestry above the 
 head of Saint Paul, appears an inscription from his Epistle to the 
 F^hilippians (Chapter 1, verse 21): “For me to live is Christ, and 
 to die is gain.” From his lips come the letters I. H. S., initials 
 of the Latin for “Jesus, Saviour of Men.” 
 
 The central figure of the group of pagans on the left is the 
 Roman Emperor Nero, beardless and laurel-crowned, and arrayed 
 in golden armor richly chased. At the left of the group of Christians 
 on the right, stands Platilla, one of the disciples of Saint Paul whose 
 veil still covers his eyes. Size, 9 feet by 7 feet 2. Lent by Arnold 
 Seligmann, Rey, & Co. 
 
 5. CAPTURE OF A FORTRESS, a French-Flemish battle 
 tapestry crowded with figures, in the style of the famous Gothic 
 Trojan war tapestries, one of which is now on exhibition at the 
 New York Metropolitan Museum of Art lent by Mr. Edson Brad- 
 ley, and three of which have for many years attracted the attention 
 of the world at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Tapes- 
 tries similar in style are the Capture of Jerusalem now in the per- 
 manent collection of the Metropolitan Museum, and the Roland 
 at Roncesvaux in the Brussels Museum. All of these tapestries 
 were designed and woven in the last half of the fifteenth century, 
 and like other Gothic tapestries are notable for the fact that they 
 picture not the costumes and faces contemporary with the stories 
 illustrated, but those contemporary with themselves. The tapestry 
 before us is distinguished not only for the strength of the weaving, 
 with rib and hatching contrasts and horizontal and stepped-slit 
 effects developed to the highest point, but also for the gradations 
 of color that produce incomparable blues and reds. On the right 
 the commander of the defeated forces, apparently a Saracen, has 
 just received the coup-de-grace, or rather several of them, and flat 
 on his back submits to the last insults of the victors. The walls 
 of the fortress form the background of the picture, and on the right 
 in an outer court a scaling ladder is being used to reach the top 
 of the wall. On the extreme left, captives are being ruthlessly 
 punished by the amputation of their hands. The figure in the 
 middle foreground, with lettering I hope to be able to interpret 
 later, is the leader of the attacking force. Size 9 feet by 15 feet 1. 
 
 Lent by Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co. 
 
 6, 7. GOTHIC SHEPHERD AND HUNTING TAPESTRIES, 
 two out of a rare and splendid set of seven woven at Tournai, then 
 in France, near the end of the fifteenth century, and illustrating 
 luminously French-Flemish costumes and customs of the period. 
 
LOAN EXHIBITION OF TAPESTRIES 
 
 13 
 
 The reds are strong and well-preserved, but broken by skillful 
 hatching and outlining artfully into a scale of tones that contrast 
 boldly but rhythmically. At the top of No. 6, appears the coat- 
 of-arms of him for whom the tapestries were probably made, per- 
 haps the lord in the foreground on the extreme right, richly ap- 
 pareled with a large rolling plume adorning the wide expanse of 
 the hat that hides part of his luxurious hair, or perhaps the lord 
 in the centre of the tapestry distinguished by a hat even richer, 
 with a whole forest of plumes crowning the jeweled hat that is 
 tied fast by a broad ribbon encircling his chin. The first lord, sup- 
 ported by the gracious presence of his lady, is receiving from a 
 retainer a rabbit and a quarter of deer, the fruit of the chase that 
 waxes warm in the background. The second lord, and his lady 
 who is resplendent with richly brocaded and voluminous robes, 
 welcome a caravan of children with their nurses joyously approach- 
 ing from the left, riding on spirited horses and guarded by a bearded 
 ruffian who points with his right hand to some danger just escaped. 
 Especially delightful are the floriation of the foreground, and the 
 architecture of the middle and background; also the three dogs of 
 the foreground. Tapestry No. 7 pictures cavaliers hunting in the 
 background, and shepherds flirting in the foreground delightfully. 
 The personage in the middle foreground is evidently a lady of the 
 castle who has temporarily seized the houlette (shepherd’s staff 
 with slender spade at the end to throw dirt at the erring sheep) 
 in order to dazzle the rustic swains, one of whom raises his left 
 hand perplexedly, while the fisherman forgets the evident fish in 
 the pool in his admiration, and the barelegged varlet in the brook 
 holds towards his mistress a captured duck, while the almost-sub- 
 merged dog mouths another. Shepherds and shepherdesses alike 
 wear at the belt the weapons of their trade, while sheep and a goat 
 browse behind them. The couple on the right seem infatuated 
 completely. Size of No. 6, 11 feet 6 by 16 feet 8; of No. 7, 11 feet 
 6 by 16 feet 5. Lent by Duveen Bros. 
 
 8 . CHILDREN PLAYING, a charming Gothic-Renaissance 
 transition picture of youthful games, with windmills, hoop and bird- 
 catcher active. Size 8 feet 8 by 6 feet 5. Lent by Dikran G. 
 Kelekian. 
 
 9 . SHEPHERDS DANCING, an early version of the type ot 
 tapestry that with captions added, became famous as the Gom- 
 bant and Mac6e series, repeated over and over again on Late 
 Gothic, Renaissance, and seventeenth century looms, and antici- 
 pated the refined rusticalities of Boucher and Lancret. Size 5 feet 
 5 by 4 feet 11. Lent by Dikran G. Kelekian. 
 
 10 . HELEN OF TROY, fragment of a Late Gothic Trojan VVar 
 tapestry, with the identity of the different personages, prominent 
 among whom is Helen, designated by the names woven on their 
 robes. Size 9 feet 7 by 4 feet 4. Lent by Dikran G. Kelekian. 
 
14 
 
 THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART 
 
 11 . SHEPHERD LOVER, a Gothic tapestry woven in Flanders 
 in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. The scene represented 
 is a Garden of Pleasure which the youthful shepherd on the left 
 regards with desire, but which the aged shepherd on the right 
 regards with aversion. Before the court-yard, children are merrily 
 and shamelessly splashing in the water without apparent fear of the 
 lion. Inside the court-yard, animals real and imaginary are por- 
 trayed with great force. In the upper left corner is a wild fox. In 
 the lower left corner, a youth with falcon, and in the lower right 
 corner, a shepherd carrying a sheep around his neck. The inscrip- 
 tion on the left reads, translated: “The shepherd lover, gay and 
 joyful at the court of pleasure.” The inscription on the right reads, 
 translated, giving the words of the aged shepherd: “I leave such 
 games, wish to play no more, am getting old.” Size, 9 feet 8 by 
 13 feet. Lent by L. Alavoine & Company. 
 
 12 , 13 . MILLE FLEUR tapestries of unusual interest. Of course, 
 no tapestry exhibition is complete without a mille fleur tapestry. 
 Mille Fleur tapestries are more generally popular than any others 
 and with much reason. Seldom, however, are they equal in quality 
 and condition to the two here exhibited. Delightfully quaint and 
 fascinating are the animals silhouetted on the floriated background, 
 and the coat of arms in the second of the two tapestries is an im- 
 portant feature. Size of the first, 9 feet 5 by 8 feet 1 ; of the second, 
 9 feet 1 by 9 feet. Lent by Duveen Brothers. 
 
 14 . DIANA AND ACTAEON. A large and well composed 
 Renaissance tapestry woven at Brussels in the middle of the six- 
 teenth century, portraying Diana at the Bath with almost Gothic 
 modesty, on the right; and on the left, Actaeon, whose accidental 
 discovery of Diana was so fatal to himself. This tapestry is an 
 e.xcellent illustration of the superiority of the Renaissance verdure 
 of both panels and borders to that of the seventeenth and eight- 
 eenth centuries. Size, 11 feet 2 by 17 feet. Lent by William 
 Baumgarten & Company. 
 
 15 . CHILDREN OF NIOBE, one of a set of six brilliantly beauti- 
 ful Renaissance tapestries of uniquely effective colorations, that 
 formerly hung in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, signed at the 
 bottom just inside the border by Francis Spiering who wove the 
 set at Delft, in Holland^ at the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, FRANCISCVS SPIRINVS FECIT ANNO 1610. Spiering’s 
 monogram, part of an N across the lower part of a signature cross, 
 also appears in the lower part of the right selvage. The mark at 
 the left of the bottom selvage is that of Delft, a shield flanked by 
 H and D (Holland and Delft). Spiering was one of the many 
 Flemish tapestry makers who sought refuge in Holland from the 
 persecutions of the Duke of Alba and the Duke of Parma. His 
 name is famous in England as that of the maker of the set of ten 
 Defeat of the Spanish Armada tapestries that adorned the assembly 
 
LOAN EXHIBITION OF TAPESTRIES 
 
 15 
 
 hall of the British House of Lords in London until destroyed by 
 fire. The border of the Children of Niobe is rich and appropriate, 
 and of the Flemish Renaissance compartment-verdure type that 
 was based on the Italian Renaissance compartment borders origi- 
 nated in Raphael’s studio for the woven pilasters of the Sistine 
 Chapel Acts of the Apostles, and later developed by Giulio Ro- 
 mano, his favorite pupil. 
 
 In the lower corners of the border are pairs of famous lovers, 
 on the left. Mars and Venus, on the right Jupiter and Callisto, 
 with the love interest emphasized by the Cupid poised to shoot, 
 whose four horse chariot occupies the middle of the top border. 
 The story of the Children of Niobe is part of the story of 
 Diana that forms the subject of the set. Niobe, daughter of Tan- 
 talus, king of Phrygia, though she owed her happy marriage and 
 her seven stalwart sons and seven blooming daughters to the favor 
 of the gods and of Latona particularly, was so puffed up with her 
 prosperity that she tried to turn her subjects from the worship of 
 Latona to the worship of herself. Enraged at this presumption, 
 Latona appealed to her children, Apollo and Diana, who quickly 
 avenged her as shown in the tapestry before us. In the middle- 
 ground stands the altar of Latona with her twin babies. In the 
 background on the right, the prophetess Manto inspired by divine 
 impulse urging the women of Thebes to throng Latona’s temple, 
 bringing rich offerings. In the right foreground, the women of 
 Thebes obeying Manto’s behest. In the left foreground, Niobe 
 and her train forbidding the sacrifice. In the left background, 
 Diana and Apollo from the sky shooting down the children of 
 Niobe, a scene that recalls the statues illustrating the same story 
 in the gallery of the Uffizi at Florence. Size 11 feet 5 by 17 feet 8. 
 Lent by Duveen Bros. 
 
 16 . THE DRAGON, an all-silk, (except for the buried woolen warp) 
 Renaissance tapestry with brilliant wide border, woven in Brussels 
 at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and signed in the 
 bottom selvage with the Brussels mark (a red shield between two 
 golden B’s that stand for Brussels in the province of Brabant), and 
 in the right selvage with the monogram of the associated tapestry 
 makers, Jan Geubels and Jan Raes. Size, 15 feet 2 by 10 feet 7. 
 Lent by Dikran G Kelekian. 
 
 17 . ARMORIAL, a Late Renaissance coat-of-arms tapestry 
 woven in Flanders evidently for Spain. One of the most interesting 
 of the Flemish armorial tapestries that have survived. Size, 9 
 feet 6 by 7 feet 8. Lent by Dikran G. Kelekian. 
 
 18 . 19 . TURKISH HORSEMEN, a pair of tapestries with extra- 
 ordinarily wide and attractive borders, illustrating the evolutions 
 of Turkish horsemen, woven in the last half of the seventeenth 
 century at Antwerp by Peeter Wanters, whose name still appears 
 on the bottom selvage of one of them. No. 18 has in the cartouche 
 
16 
 
 THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART 
 
 occupying the middle of the top border, the inscription Groupades 
 par le droite (Right wheel); No. 19 has Le trot (Trotting). 
 Lent by Mrs. Russell A. Alger. 
 
 20. ULYSSES AND CIRCE, a large and impressive tapestry, 
 (though in bad condition) in the style of Rubens, woven in the 
 middle of the seventeenth century by I. Liemairs, and signed in the 
 bottom selvage with his name and the Brussels mark. The story 
 is told in the Latin caption in the cartouche at the top, QVOS 
 ANIMOS NVMQVAM VINA LVSVSQVE PETVNT (Souls 
 nev'er weary of wine and games). Certainly prohibition did not 
 prevent Circe from using all the liquid arts to hold Ulysses, and 
 keep him far from his faithful Penelope. Size, 13 feet 3 by 14 
 feet 7. Lent by Mrs. John W. Liggett. 
 
 21. FLORA, the Goddess of Spring, one of the brilliant tapestries 
 woven at Brussels during the reign of the French king, Louis XIV, 
 and commonly called “Louis XIV Brussels.” Size, 10 feet 9 by 
 14 feet. Lent by William Baumgarten & Company. 
 
 22. ACHILLES, another Louis XIV Brussels tapestry of strong 
 composition and brilliant coloration. The scene depicted is that of 
 Achilles discovered by Ulysses among the daughters of Lycomedes, 
 where he had been sent by his mother, Thetis, and dressed in girl’s 
 clothing, in order to prevent him from being compelled to go to the 
 Trojan War. Size, 12 feet 1 by 16 feet 10. Lent by William Baum- 
 garten & Company. 
 
 23. ARRIVAL OF NEPTUNE, a miniature Louis XIV Brussels 
 tapestry picturing a scene from Fenelon’s Story of Telemachus, the 
 son of Ulysses, who went wandering around the Mediterranean in 
 search of the father whose life he feared for and whose return he 
 longed for. Size, 6 feet 11 by 9 feet 6. Lent by Mrs. Sherman 
 L. Depew. 
 
 24. CARD PLAYERS, an early eighteenth century Brussels 
 tapestry in the style of Teniers, with the woven gilt frame border 
 introduced in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Size, 9 
 feet 11 by 11 feet 1. Lent by Dikran G. Kelekian. 
 
 25. MORGAN SAVONNERIE, not a tapestry but one of the 
 famous pile rugs knotted for Louis XIV in the old soap works 
 (savonnerie) at Chaillot, a suburb of Paris. The rug plant was 
 transferred to the Gobelins early in the nineteenth century, but 
 savonneries have given their name to all hand-knotted French rugs, 
 even those made at Aubusson and places far from Paris. The rug 
 before us, as part of the famous J. Pierpont Morgan collection, was 
 long a centre of pilgrimage at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
 
LOAN EXHIBITION OF TAPESTRIES 
 
 17 
 
 and is quite worthy to be shown side by side with the finest Savon- 
 neries of the Louvre and in the French National Collection. Size, 
 11 feet 4 by 18 feet 2. Lent by Duveen Bros. 
 
 26 . BEAUVAIS FURNITURE COVERINGS, a set of eight 
 chairs with sofa, covered with tapestry woven at Beauvais in the 
 period of Louis XV, picturing scenes designed by Oudry to illus- 
 trate Lafontaine’s Fables. Tapestries like these are now so rare as 
 to be inaccessible to those of moderate fortune. Lent by Duveen 
 Bros. 
 
 27 - 31 . MONTHS OF LUCAS, JANUARY, MARCH, APRIL 
 SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER. Five tapestries out of a series of 
 twelve designed about 1530 by Lucas van Leyden, and woven at the 
 Gobelins in the eighteenth century, with eighteenth century bor- 
 ders, for the Count of Toulouse, on high warp looms in the shop of 
 Michel Audran, whose signature appears in the lower right corner 
 of the panel. This is by far the finest of several sets of Months of 
 Lucas woven at the Gobelins. The monogram in the lower corners 
 of the different pieces is the A of Alexandre, Count of Toulouse. 
 After his death the tapestries were placed in the Palace of Fontaine- 
 bleau as part of the Royal collection, and were sold in 1852 as part 
 of the possessions of Louis Philippe, deposed King of France. Later 
 they became part of the collection of Lady Somerset and hung in 
 Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, until acquired by the present own- 
 ers. On pages 325 and 327 of Latham’s “In English Homes” the 
 tapestries are shown in position on the walls of the Library of 
 Eastnor Castle. Added interest is given to the Months of Lucas 
 though the recent discovery by myself of the long-forgotten fact 
 that the two principal personages portrayed are the Emperor 
 Charles I and his wife, Isabella of Spain, whom he married in 1526, 
 shortly before the tapestries were designed. 
 
 At this point I should like to say that to speak of Charles V as 
 a German Emperor is misleading. His grandfather and predeces- 
 sor was Emperor Maximilian, whose hereditary title was Archduke 
 of Austria. But Charles was also the grandson of Mary of Bur- 
 gundy, and was born and brought up in Flanders, and his native 
 language was French. Spain and the vast colonial possessions of 
 Spain in America and the East Indies were inherited from his 
 mother; Burgundy, that is to say the Netherlands (Belgium and 
 Holland), with all their tapestry looms, from his grandmother, 
 Mary, through his father, Philip the Handsome; Austria, from his 
 grandfather, Maximilian. Emperor of what is now the Central 
 Empires he became by election. His possessions were more v^ast 
 than those of any ruler since the ancient Roman Pnnpire. 
 
 January is distinguished by the fact that in it the Emperor 
 Charles and the Empress Isabella appear three times, and that the 
 floor tiles are adorned with the double-headed eagle ot the Holy 
 Roman Empire, so called because it was neither Holy or Roman. 
 Each of the three Charles carries a torch, and each of the three 
 Isabellas an arrow. The figure at the back of the hall is a Roman 
 
18 
 
 THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART 
 
 God, the two-faced Janus who ushers out the Old Year with one 
 face, and ushers in the New Year with the other face, holding over 
 the head of the sleeping woman who symbolizes the Old Year the 
 symbol of Eternity, a serpent biting its tail. The lengths of the 
 five tapestries are: No. 27, January, 10 feet 4; No. 28, March, 15 
 feet 4; No. 29, April, 7 feet 11; No. 30, September, 15 feet 6; No. 
 
 31. October, 7 feet 9. The Toulouse Gobelin Months of Lucas are 
 lent by Duveen Brothers. 
 
 32. THE VILLAGE MARKET, a large and effective composition 
 designed by Etienne Jeaurat, and woven at the Gobelins on the high 
 warp looms of Michel Audran. The tapestry before us is from the 
 collection of the Duke of Bisaccia, inherited from the collection of 
 his great-great-grandfather, the Duke of Laval-Montmorency 
 (1723-98), Marshal of France, and First Gentleman of the Chamber 
 of Monsieur. The scene on the left shows a recruiting sergeant 
 busy at his task, while on the right is the market with buildings and 
 peddlers, girls dancing, children at the wheel of fortune, and a quack 
 doctor holding up a printed placard, with a negro assistant. Size, 
 9 feet 4 by 18 feet 9. Lent by Gimpel & Wildenstein. 
 
 33. CUPID AND PSYCHE, a tapestry woven at the Gobelins in 
 1792 by Cozette Fils, who signed it and dated it. M. Molinier, the 
 Director of the Louvre, wrote of the duplicate there: “A tapestry 
 after the design of Charles Coypel. The composition is absolutely 
 theatrical, and ranks among the most beautiful. Cupid is less the 
 kind of Cupid that antiquity conceives, and more the actor who 
 is playing a gracious role.” The scene is from Moliere’s “Psiche,” 
 and shows Cupid on a bed alseep, with an arrow in his right hand, 
 while Psyche regards him by the light of an ancient Roman hand 
 lamp. Psyche has been persuaded by her jealous sisters that her 
 husband, who visits her only by night and whose face neither she 
 nor any of her family has seen, is the awful monster foretold by the 
 oracle, who shuns the light because of his ugliness. They have 
 persuaded her that it is her duty to destroy him as he sleeps. So 
 Psyche takes the dagger and enters the nuptial bower where Cupid 
 slumbers. Her surprise and delight at finding divine beauty in- 
 stead of deformity are revealed in her countenance. Size, 12 feet 
 2 by 9 feet 11. Lent by Lewis & Simmons. 
 
 34. BACCHUS AND ARIADNE, a tapestry woven at the Gobe- 
 
 lins in 1795 by Cozette Fils, after the design of the French painter 
 Clement Belle, inspector at the Gobelins from 1755 to 1802. The 
 artist’s own memorandum describes the scene: “Bacchus finds 
 
 Ariadne on the island of Naxos, deserted by Theseus and aban- 
 doned to grief. Touched by her misfortunes and her beauty, he 
 offers her his hand and his crown. Cupid unites them.” Size 12 
 feet by 8 feet 9. Lent by Lewis & Simmons. 
 
LOAN EXHIBITION OF TAPESTRIES 
 
 19 
 
 35 . DIANA AND ENDYMION, an eighteenth century French 
 tapestry attributed to the Gobelins. Endymion was the only man 
 the chaste Diana ever loved, and even him she loved chastely. 
 The scene shows that her interest has at last been really aroused. 
 Characteristic of her is the chariot drawn by two hinds, as well as the 
 crescent on her brow. Size 11 feet 3 by 13 feet. Lent by William 
 Baumgarten & Co. 
 
 36 . 37 . TWO BEAUVAIS-BOUCHERS. These are the finest 
 tapestries of the eighteenth century, surpassing even the wonderful 
 cloths woven at the Gobelins, which during the seventeenth cen- 
 tury had stood preeminent. Beauvais-Bouchers get their name 
 from Francois Boucher, by whom they were designed in the middle 
 third of the eighteenth century, and from Beauvais Tapestry Works, 
 where they were woven between 1736 and 1778, inclusive. As the 
 dates and the name of the designer would indicate, Beauvais- 
 Boucher tapestries are warm with the spirit of Rococo and of Louis 
 XV., and gracefully passionate in form and color as well as in 
 subject. For the most complete history of Beauvais-Boucher 
 tapestries ever printed, see my articles in the current March, April, 
 and May numbers of Arts and Decorations. The most important 
 ones privately owned in the United States are those belonging to 
 Mrs. H. E. Huntington, Mrs. Alexander Rice, Mr. George F. Baker, 
 Mr. C. Ledyard Blair, Mr. George Gould, Mr. C. B. Alexander. It 
 is a matter of pride for me to be able to show two at the present 
 exhibition in Detroit, in company with more Gobelins and Beauvais 
 tapestries than ever before came so far west. No. 36, Bacchus 
 and Ariadne, is one of the famous Loves of the Gods set of nine 
 tapestries that first went on the looms at Beauvais in 1749. No. 
 
 37. Vintage, is one of the exquisite Noble Pastoral set of six tapes- 
 tries designed by Boucher for Madame Pompadour, who at the 
 period dominated not only the art of love but the other arts as 
 well, and took lessons in drawing from Boucher who was her 
 favorite painter. This set went on the looms in 1755, and repre- 
 sents the extreme of accomplishment in tapestry designing and 
 weaving in the eighteenth century. Size of Bacchus and Ariadne, 
 11 feet 7 by 11 feet 3; of Vintage, 10 feet 3 by 11 feet 7. Lent by 
 Duveen Brothers. 
 
 38 . RUSSIAN PICNIC, one of the famous series of pictures of 
 Russian life, designed by Leprince, and woven at Beauvais in 1778. 
 The tapestry is signed A. C. C., the initials of Andre Charlemagne 
 Charron, who was the proprietor of the Beauvais works at the time. 
 This is a very rare and important piece. Size, 8 feet 5 by 23 feet 4. 
 Lent by L. Alavoine & Company. 
 
 39 . THE BATTLE, one of a pair of tapestries designed by Fran- 
 cois Casanova, and woven at Beauvais in the last half of the 
 eighteenth century. The scene is a stirring one, and of course 
 
20 
 
 THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART 
 
 especially timely just now. Size, 10 feet 4 by 13 feet 2. Lent by 
 Gimpel & Wildenstein. 
 
 40 . ARMORIAL, a small French tapestry of the Regence period, 
 Ix'aring a coat-of-arms that suggests Persia, and with a green border 
 also suggestive of the Near East. Size 3 feet 8 by 4 feet 2. Lent 
 by Dikran G. Kelekian. 
 
 41 . MAR.S AND VENUS, a Louis XV tapestry woven at Aubus- 
 son, crude in color and design, but not unpleasing. Size, 6 feet 7 
 by 13 feet 8. Lent by Mrs. John W. Liggett. 
 
 42 . THE HONEYMOON, a Louis XVI tapestry in bad condition, 
 woven at Aubusson after the influence of the painters Dumons and 
 juillard had begun to be felt for the better. Size, 8 feet 8 by 12 
 feet. Gift of Mr. Charles Stinchfield. 
 
 43 . PLAYING BALL, one of a charming set of eight designed 
 by Jean Baptiste Huet, and woven at Aubusson about 1775. 
 Among tapestries suitable in size and subject for the average 
 American house this set is unique. It excels in those decorative 
 qualities which so happily differentiate many tapestries from most 
 paintings, and make a house a home instead of a museum. In 
 “Playing Ball” it is not foot or bat which propels the ball, but the 
 right arm assisted by a heavy brassard. The ball itself is large 
 and of leather, and inflated with air by the bellows, that is plainly 
 shown. Size, 9 feet 10 by 8 feet 1. Lent by William Baumgarten 
 & Company. 
 
 44 . TAPESTRY RUG, woven in heavy texture and floral design 
 for use on the floor at Aubusson about the middle of the nine- 
 teenth century. Size 20 feet by 25 feet. Lent by Mrs. A. L. 
 Stephens. 
 
 45 . AMERICAN TAPESTRY, woven in Peru in the sixteenth 
 century by Indians who inherited the art from their aboriginal an- 
 cestors, but who introduced armed Spaniards into the four corners 
 of the panel as a token of respect to their conquerors. A fine 
 specimen. Size 5 feet 8 by 5 feet 6. Lent by Dikran G. Kelekian. 
 
 46 . OUDRY VERDURE, a pleasing verdure of the eighteenth 
 century type, made vivid by animals in the style of Oudry, who 
 had the good fortune not only to bring back to prosperity the 
 weaving of tapestries at Beauvais in the second quarter of the 
 eighteenth century, principally by employing Francois Boucher to 
 make designs for the Beauvais works, but who also became artistic 
 director of the Gobelins. Size, 8 feet 2 by 16 feet 2. Woven and 
 lent by William Baumgarten & Company. 
 
LOAN EXHIBITION OF TAPESTRIES 
 
 21 
 
 47 . FOUNTAIN OF LOVE, a modem American tapestry. Late 
 Gothic in style, picturing one of those pleasant scenes that whiled 
 away the hours of the story-telling ladies and gentlemen of Boc- 
 caccio’s Decameron near Florence in the fourteenth century. This 
 tapestry shows refinement of Gothic weaving here achieved for 
 the first time in America. Size, 9 feet by 8 feet. Woven and lent 
 by the Edgewater Tapestry Looms, and accompanied by the small 
 and large color sketches from which the full-sized cartoon was 
 copied. 
 
 48 . GARDEN OF ROSES, a modern American reproduction of 
 one of the famous Gothic group of three Garden of Roses tapestries 
 belonging to the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum 
 of Art, and formerly famous in France as part of the Bardac Col- 
 lection. Size, 9 feet by 11 feet. Woven and lent by the Edgewater 
 Tapestry Looms and accompanied by the large color sketches of 
 this and one of the sister panels. 
 
 49 . COLOR SKETCHES for two Shakespeare tapestries, de- 
 signed and woven at the Edgewater Tapestry Looms. 
 

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