Object details
Object number
T30w13
Creator(s)
Flemish, Tournai
Title
The Education of the Prince of Peace
Date
about 1510-1530
Medium
Wool warp (7 yarns per cm); wool and silk wefts
Description
Human figures
Dimensions
383.5 x 294.6 cm (151 x 116 in.)
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings
Labeled (king, the central seated figure left, on the hem of his tunic): le roy vertueu (the virtuous king)
Labeled (princess, the central seated figure right, on the floor below her): pri[n]cesse de pays [paix] (the princess of peace)
Inscribed (below the elbow of the far right figure, a female courtier): ..ce... (the rest of the inscription is lost; uninterpretable)
Labeled (prince, the central figure standing between two women, on the ground above his head): pri[n]ce de pays [paix] (prince of peace)
Labeled (personification of pity, the female figure in the background far right, on her chest): pitie (pity)
Labeled (personification of love, the male figure in the background far right, on his chest): AMOVR (love)
Labeled (personification of strength, a female figure in the foreground far right, on her skirt): force (strength)
Labeled (personification of prudence, a female figure in the foreground far right, on her skirt): prudence (prudence)
Labeled (personification of charity, the female figure right of the prince, on her skirt): charite (charity)
Labeled (personification of youth, the female figure left of the prince, on her skirt): jonesse (youth)
Labeled (personification of concord, the female figure in the foreground far left, on her skirt): concorde (concord)
Labeled (personification of hope, the female figure in the background far left, on her skirt): espera[n]ce (hope)
Labeled (personification of passing time, the male figure in the background far left, on his skirt): passetemp (passing time)
Inscribed (in various combinations across the floor tiles) I H N R S
Inscribed (upper left corner): the coat of arms of the de la Viefville family
Inscribed (upper right corner): the coat of arms of the de la Viefville impaling those of the de Neufville family
Provenance
Created as part of a tapestry series. Now in a fragmentary state and housed in the Denver Museum of Art, a Birth of the Prince of Peace tapestry (accession no. E-665) probably once preceded the Gardner tapestry in the series. A textual source has not been identified for the series.
Formerly in the collection of a member of the de la Viefville, an aristocratic French family, likely one married to a member of the de Neufville family. A Rape of Concord tapestry in the collection of Joseph Philippart, Tournai as of 1958 (present location unknown, see Asselberghs, p. 12) once hung in the de la Viefville collection with the Gardner tapestry and possibly the Denver tapestry.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the art gallery Galerie de l'Universelle, Paris for 13,000 francs on 31 December 1892, through Fernand Robert, her regular agent in Paris.
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.
Bibliography
Henry Harvard. La Tapisserie (Paris, 1893), p. 131, fig. 63. (the scene as "A Dessert at Court"; as French, 15th century; the illustrated tapestry is likely the Gardner tapestry but possibly a duplicate)
Art Exhibition: Mrs. John L. Gardner, 152 Beacon St., Boston. Exh. cat. (Boston, 1899), p. 5, no. 11. (as "Gothic tapestry, witha [sic] representation of a Provencal fete")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), pp. 272-73. (as Franco-Flemish, perhaps Tournai, about 1525-1550; the arms as those of the La Vieuville family of Artois and an Auvergne branch of the same family)
Jean-Paul Asselberghs. Les tapisseries flamandes aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique (Brussels, 1974), p. 12, fig. 2. (the arms as those of François de Viefville and Anne de Neufville, both of Tournai)
Adolph S. Cavallo. "An Introduction to the Textile Collection at Fenway Court." Fenway Court (1981), pp. 6-17, fig. 2. (as Flemish, 1st half of the 16th century)
Adolph S. Cavallo. Textiles: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1986), pp. 44-47, no. 8. (as Flemish, probably Tournai, 1525-1550)
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, figs. 22.1, 22.3. (as Flemish, probably Tournai, 1525-1550)
Gallery
Gothic Room
Rights and reproductions
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