[Sidenote:
_Wool and Silk._
H. 32 _in._
W. 24 _in._
]
SCENES FROM THE CHILDHOOD OF CHRIST: _On a black ground strewn with
flowers, five oval panels framed with wreaths: the Annunciation; the
Nativity; the Adoration of the Magi; the Circumcision; the Flight into
Egypt._
[Sidenote: Illustrated: _Schmitz, Bild-Teppiche_, p. 265.]
[Sidenote: Lent by _Mrs. William H. Crocker_.]
This very unusual tapestry was the work of Balthasar Bosmanns, one of the
greatest weavers of Antwerp. The realistically drawn yet richly decorative
flowers show the influence of the school of flower painters of which Jan
Brueghel was the most famous. The landscape in the _Adoration_ and the
_Flight into Egypt_ are rendered with exquisite delicacy. The effect of
the panels in such light, fresh, almost pastel colors against the black
ground is a daring and striking decorative experiment. Another rendering
of the same cartoon is in the Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin.