Object details
Object number
T21e3
Creator(s)
English
Title
A Man and Woman in a Garden
Date
1590-1610
Medium
Linen tabby embroidered with polychrome wool silk yarns in tent stitches
Description
Human figures, Animals
Dimensions
190.5 x 283.2 cm (75 x 111 1/2 in.)
Provenance
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the dealer Antonio Carrer (d. 1912), Venice in the spring of 1893 for about $2,000 through the American painter and collector Ralph W. Curtis (1854–1922).
Commentary
Isabella Gardner’s love of textiles can be seen throughout the museum. In the center of this densely embroidered textile, which was probably made to hang on a wall, a fashionably dressed couple stroll through a garden filled with animals. You can probably find the dogs and the monkey, but look for at least eight other kinds of creatures. On the left, a young man plays bagpipes beneath a tree. The border contains richly-dressed figures, more animals, and a variety of fruits and flowers. The prominence of the large figures set in such a lush environment suggests that the textile celebrates courtly love.
Bibliography
Catalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 15. (as "Piece of Henri II Needlework")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 174.
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 9, no. 2 (12 Sep. 1965), p. 2.
Lisa O. Ehret. "Chateau and Garden Tapestries at Fenway Court." Fenway Court (1977), p. 25, no. 5.
Adolph S. Cavallo. Textiles: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1986), pp. 150-51, cat. 99. (as English or French, 1590-1610)
Linda J. Docherty. "Translating Dante: Isabella Stewart Gardner's Museum as Paradiso." Religion and the Arts (2018), p. 210.
Gallery
Dutch Room
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