[Sidenote:
_Wool and Silk._
No. 14:
H. 11 _ft._ 6 _in._
W. 14 _ft._ 2 _in._
]
[Sidenote:
No. 15:
H. 10 _ft._ 9 _in._
W. 7 _ft._ 3½ _in._
No. 16:
H. 11 _ft._
W. 10 _ft._ 5 _in._
]
THREE PIECES FROM A SERIES ILLUSTRATING THE CREED: _This series of
scenes illustrating the Creed begins_ (_No._ 14) _with the Creation of
the World_. _The designer, evidently with some allegorical poem in mind,
includes in the scene Sapientia, Potencia, and Benignitas, depicted, in
characteristic medieval form, as three richly dressed women. In the
center scene these three offer the world to God. On the right, Gubernacio,
Redempcio, and Caritas stand under the throne of the Trinity._
_In the second piece_ (_No._ 15) _the series continues with the Life of
Christ_, _beginning with the Annunciation_, _the Nativity_, _and the
Adoration of the Kings_.
_Reverting to the older tradition of the XIVth century that had been
almost displaced during the XVth century_, _all the events of Christ's
public life are omitted_, _and the third piece_ (_No._ 16) _depicts the
scenes of the Passion_, _including the popular interpolation of Christ's
farewell to his Mother_, _with the Apostles in the background_, _the
Resurrection_, _and finally Christ taking his place at the right hand of
God while the angels sing hosannas_.
_Below, throughout the series, is the set of the Apostles facing Prophets,
symbolic of the parallelism of the Old and New Testaments, each with a
scroll bearing his speech in the conventional responses depicted in so
many works of art of the period. So Peter (No. 14), says, "I believe in
God the Father Omnipotent," and Jeremiah, who faces him, replies, "You
invoke the Father who made the earth and builded the heavens."_ _Next_
(_No._ 15) _comes Andrew_, _who originally faced David_, _a figure now
missing_. _The next pair, John and Daniel, is also missing._ _There
follow_ (_No._ 16) _Thomas_, _who originally faced Hosea_, _and John the
Lesser_, _who is opposite Amos_. _Above_, _on either side of the Nativity_
(_No._ 15), _is introduced another pair_, _John the Greater and Isaiah_.
The complete piece, of which number 16 is the right-hand end, was formerly
in the Toledo Cathedral, then in the collection of Asher Wertheimer, of
London. The present owner is unknown.[9] Another rendition was in the
Vatican, but disappeared in the middle of the XIXth century.[10]
Tapestries illustrating the Creed were common throughout the Middle
Ages. They appear frequently in XIVth-century inventories, and a number
of examples from the XVth and early XVIth century are left to us. The
Apostles and Prophets arranged in pairs are a common feature of this type
of tapestry.
[Sidenote: Formerly in Evora Palace, Portugal.]
The cartoons are evidently the work of the painter who painted the ceiling
of the Church of St. Guy at Naarden, whom Dr. Six tentatively identifies
as Albert Claesz.[11] The similarity is too close to be overlooked. The
Christ of the Naarden _Resurrection_[12] and this _Resurrection_ are
almost identical, the face of God the Father in the _Assumption_ is
almost identical with that of an onlooker in the Naarden _Betrayal_,[13]
and Adam in the first piece of this series closely resembles the Christ
of the Naarden _Flagellation_.[14] But more indicative are the lesser
peculiarities common to both series. There are in both the same curiously
flattened and slightly distorted skulls with very large ears, the same
large eyes with heavy arched lids and eyebrows close above them, oblique
and not quite correctly placed in the three-quarter views, and always
looking beyond their focus. The mouths, too, in some of the faces are
overemphasized in the same way, and the feet have the same quaint
distortion, being seen from above, as in the figure of the Prophet John
(No. 15). And in very conspicuous minor agreement, the cross has a
strongly indicated and rigidly conventionalized graining identical in
the two renditions. The attitude of the Christ and the indication of
the garment in the Toledo tapestry is very close to that in the Naarden
painting.
[Illustration:
_The Creation of the World_ No. 14
]
[Illustration:
_Four Scenes from the Life of Christ_ No. 17
]
The floreation was probably introduced by the weaver. The delightfully
exact scene of the owl scolded by a magpie, while a pigeon sits near
by and another bird flutters about (No. 14), is repeated with slight
variations in a number of XVIth-century pieces.
[Sidenote: Lent by _Demotte_.]
The drawing in these tapestries is rather unusually primitive for pieces
of this period, but the figures have a broad monumental character and a
direct sincerity of bearing that make them very convincing.
[Sidenote: 17-19]