74 MADRID, LATE XVIII CENTURY
Wool and Silk.
H. 5 ft.
W. 8 ft.
Lent by Duveen Brothers.
THE CARD PLAYERS: A group of men and women playing at cards sit about a table on which is thrown a rich brocade. One of the company sits to one side playing a lute.
This piece is one of the rather uncommon examples of the work of the Santa Barbara looms of Madrid. The skill of the weavers is remarkable in reproducing the heavy modeling of the deep shadows and the delicate modulations of the faces. For the perfect rendition of the effect of a painting in tapestry it cannot be excelled.
ADDENDA
The tapestries entered under this heading were received
too late to be entered in their proper order
in the body of the catalogue.
75 BRUSSELS, BEGINNING OF XVI CENTURY
Wool, Silk, Gold.
H. 9 ft. 1 in.
W. 7 ft. 8 in.
THE RESURRECTION: The risen Christ discovered by Peter. Upper left, the Agony in Gethsemane; upper right, Christ appearing to Mary in the garden. In the background, the angel appearing to the three women. Border of fruits and flowers, grapes, roses, and iris interspersed with finches and a paroquet.
This tapestry, the last of a series illustrating the Passion of Our Lord, was designed in the studio of Bernard Van Orley, and may be the work of Van Orley himself, though there were some of his students and followers who in purity of conception and elevation and sensitiveness of feeling were superior at times to the master himself. The weaving, unsurpassable in technical perfection, may be the work of the Pannemaker looms. The quality of the design and weaving and the lavish use of gold all indicate that this series was made for a great church or a noble family.