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Most tapestries tell stories, often chosen from the Bible, ancient mythology, history, or famous works of literature. Royal patrons also commissioned specific images that celebrated their rule, dynasty, and patronage in order to emphasize their power and legitimacy. Purely decorative landscapes and scenes of everyday life were popular as well and could be adapted to almost any room or setting. The tapestry God Speaking to Noah (above) is remarkable for its detailed landscape background and elaborate border, which rival the two stately figures for visual impact.
The works in VMFA's Tapestry Hall represent several of the categories mentioned above. The four tapestries in the outermost bays represent Old Testament scenes from the Life of Moses, as told in Exodus. The tapestry The Last Supper, an event recorded in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, could have been part of the decoration of an English chapel or a church. The Seven Vices fragment illustrates a moral message, although its textual origins are not drawn from the Bible -- the list of deadly sins developed and changed over the course of the Middle Ages, but was firmly established by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) in the description of hell in his epic poem the Divine Comedy, written in the early 1300s. The central images on the Don Quixote Tapestries are derived from the famous Spanish novel of the same name by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). Published in two parts, 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote continued to be widely read for hundreds of years. In the 18th century the story was translated into many languages and inspired both theatrical plays and ballets. |