[Sidenote:
_Wool and Silk._
H. 15 _ft._
W. 19 _ft._
]
THE TRIUMPH OF WISDOM: _Wisdom with her two herons rides in a chariot
drawn by mythological beasts. In the upper right are Perseus and Pegasus.
Before the chariot are Ahasuerus, Abigail, David, and Saba. Cassandra
walks beside, while Titus and his soldiers, Rachel, and Judith with the
head of Holofernes bring up the rear. In the upper left Prometheus, in the
lower Cadmus, contending with the dragons._
This is one of a very famous set of tapestries illustrating the _Triumphs
of Petrarch_ and a number of other _Triumphs_ invented by French poets
in imitation of Petrarch. The cartoons are evidently the product of the
studio of Maître Philippe (cf. Nos. 19, 20), for the heads of several of
the minor characters are regular models, often repeated in his work. The
cartoons were painted and also executed before 1523, because in that year
Henry VII bought eight of the set, four of which are still at Hampton
Court. This piece, however, was woven in the middle of the century, as is
shown by the character of the heavy floral border. In the selvage is the
Brussels city mark and the mark of the Brussels weaver, Leo Van den Hecke.
[Sidenote: Lent by _Mrs. William H. Crocker_.]
The design is full of the oblique symbolism that the period loved. The
allusions are drawn with equal interest from classic tradition, secular
history, and Christian legend. The entire past has been laid under tribute
with magnificent disregard of historical, social, and religious congruity.
Such an unclassified assemblage of exciting personalities might even
cause confusion in the Day of Judgment. It is typical of the Renaissance
catholicity, the Renaissance eagerness to assimilate all knowledge and
be always as impressive as possible. Yet the figures still have some of
the stately restraint of the Gothic, and the dispersion of the points of
interest, so that the whole textile is equally covered, is a remainder
from the Gothic taste. Truly transitional, it represents the final stage
of Maître Philippe's development.
[Sidenote: 77]