Attributed to Jan van Tiegen (active about 1550)
Abraham Receives Rebecca, 1550-1600
Wool warp (6 yarns per cm); wool and silk wefts , 345.4 x 541 cm (136 x 213 in.)
General admission for children 17 years and under is always free
This huge tapestry is about 11 feet tall and 18 feet wide. It is faded and worn so the color palette consists of shades of pink, beige, tan, and blue with touches of green and red . It is an outdoor scene with a large, tight group of light-skinned people in the center. The main action is a handshake between an old, bearded man in the center right and a young, half bowing woman who is peeking out of the group of people on the left side. The old bearded man is a step closer to the viewer in the foreground, which makes him slightly larger. He has a bright red tunic and a waist length beard. Beside him, on the far right, stands a tall, young man in the armour of an ancient soldier. He grasps a cutlass at his side. Other well-dressed men are gathered behind the soldier and old man. The young woman at center left, who is being honored with the handshake, is tall and fair haired. She wears a small red cap at the back of her head and a richly embroidered gold jacket over a long blue skirt. In her left hand she holds a length of brown cloth. A tall bearded young man in a red short tunic stands just to the right of the young woman. He pulls his rich blue cape around his body. Two female attendants also crowd around the woman, on her left side. One of them kneels and reaches toward the young woman. The kneeling woman is wearing a pink gown and white cap. A large swath of rich blue and white striped fabric drapes over her shoulder and falls around her on the ground. The foreground shows flowers, grass, trees, a pond, and a turtle. In the background on the right there are steps leading into an arched, columned interior with seated figures grouped around a chest. On the left of the scene there are trees, shrubs,and a pastoral landscape. A large group of tiny figures form a mass in the distance. The tapestry is surrounded by a wide border of flowers and fruits interspersed with mythological figures and cherubs. A Latin inscription is written within a blue table at the upper center of this border.
Tapestry Room
Commentary
Based on the story of Abraham as told in the Book of Genesis, this tapestry shows Abraham (at right) extending his hand to welcome Rebecca, the young woman chosen to be his son Isaac’s wife. Isaac, wearing armor, stands behind his father. Look for the next part of this story behind Isaac, where the couple’s wedding feast is taking place in a grand palace. The figures are set in a verdant landscape surrounded by a border of fruits, flowers, and vegetables. An avid gardener herself, Isabella Gardner may have enjoyed the connections between these woven landscapes, the plants in the museum’s courtyard, and the parkland of the Emerald Necklace just outside. In her typical eclectic fashion, Gardner intermingled the two tapestry cycles and hung them in seemingly random order. You can tell the two cycles apart by looking at the top of each scene: the Abraham tapestries have a Latin inscription, while the Cyrus tapestries do not.