Object details
Accession number
T31e4
Creators
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Jasper Van Bruggen
(active Belgian, mid 17th century)
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primary
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Michiel Coxie
(Mechelen, Antwerpen, Flanders, 1499 - 1592, Mechelen, Antwerpen, Flanders)
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primary
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Unknown
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primary
Full title
The Story of Noah: God Commands Noah to Build the Ark
Creation Date
mid 17th century
Provenance
Woven from cartoons for a Genesis series by the Netherlandish artist Michiel Coxie, I (1499-1592), which Coxie created in about 1560. Although by a different weaver, the Tower of Babel tapestry (museum no. T22e4) was also woven after Coxie's designs for the Genesis series. (For more information on this series, see Marthe Crick-Kuntziger's publication listed in the bibliography).
Probably purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner's husband, John L. Gardner, Jr. (1837-1898), from the interior decorators and dealers of decorative arts L. Marcotte & Co., New York for $1,600 (for the series of three tapestries, museum nos. T14w5-s, T27e31, and T31e4) on October 6, 1880.
Marks
Inscribed (central tablet): DIXIT DEVS NOË FAC TIBI ARCAM (God said, "Noah make for thyself an ark")
Inscribed (lower left, outer guard): Brussels mark
Dimensions
276.9 x 327.7 cm (109 x 129 in.)
Display Media
Wool warp (8 yarns per cm); wool and silk wefts
Web Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.
Permanent Gallery Location
Third Floor Stairhall and Stairway
Bibliography
Morris Carter. Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court (Boston, 1925; Reprint, Boston, 1972), p. 54. (as "three Gobelin tapestries")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), pp. 85, 247-48, 280. (as woven by Jasper van Brugghen, Flemish, middle of the 17th century)
Marthe Crick-Kuntziger. "Tapisseries de la Genèse d'Après Michel Coxie." Bulletin de la Société Royale d'Archéologie de Bruxelles (1938), pp. 6, 13, no. 7, fig. 1. (as after Michel Coxie, woven by Jan van Brugghen)
Betty Chamberlain. “Tapestry Room” in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 35. (as "three Gobelins tapestries")
Jean-Paul Asselberghs. Les tapisseries flamandes aux États-Unis d'Amérique (Brussels, 1974), p. 13. (as mark of Jasper van Brugghen, active 1640-1665)
Adolph S. Cavallo. Textiles: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1986), pp. 84-91, no. 17a. (as Flemish, Brussels, 1650-1675)
Jennifer R. Gross et al. Threads of Dissent. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1999), p. 6. (as Flemish, 1650-1675)
Kathy Francis, Tess Fredette, et al. "Tapestries on long-term view at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: a synthesis of treatment options’ in Frances Lennard et al. (eds.). Tapestry Conservation: Principles and Practice (Oxford, 2006), pp. 163-70. (as Brussels, mid 17th century)
Rights and reproductions
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