COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
CMA_.1960.176.2
AMICA Library Year:
2003
Object Type:
Textiles
Creator Nationality:
France, early 16th century
Creator Name-CRT:
France, early 16th century
Title:
Chateau de Chaumont Tapestry Set: Youth
Title Type:
Primary
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
1500-1510
Creation Start Date:
1500
Creation End Date:
1510
Materials and Techniques:
tapestry weave: wool and silk
Classification Term:
Tapestry
Style or Period:
France, early 16th century
Dimensions:
Overall: 332.6cm x 462cm
AMICA Contributor:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number:
1960.176.2
Credit Line:
John L. Severance Fund
Inscriptions:
French verse in Gothic letters translates as follows: Youth triumphs while its heart is healthy, And when it seems to hold all in its hand. But this triumph is without eternity. Here one sees the example full well: Those who are happy hide death in thier heart. Let the young heed this warning.
Provenance:
one of set of three allegorical tapestries from the Chateau de Chaumont until 1907; Duveen Collection, New York, in 1925; Clarence H. MacKay Collection until 1939; (French & Co., New York).
Context:
This tapestry belongs to a set of four allegorical tapestries depicting Eternity, Youth, and Time. The fourth, representing Love, hangs in the Detroit Institute of Arts. The themes were derived from the Triumphs by the popular 14th-century Italian poet Petrarch. This series of poems stresses the impermanence of everything except eternity. The scenes and the Latin verses at the top reflect the idyllic but disillusioned life of the nobility in the early 16th century.The Chaumont tapestries are admired for their specific range of bright colors. The unidentified designer worked in a conservative style which ignored pictorial innovations for depicting space and mass. The figures, for example, appear placed onto, rather than integrated into, the tipped-up shallow landscapes, covered with blossoming plants, or millefleurs.The tapestries hung in the Chateau de Chaumont in the Loire Valley and may have been commissioned by Charles II d'Amboise (died 1511), who built much of the existing castle, presumably represented in Youth and Time.A young woman dressed in an opulent brocaded velvet robe sits in the center. She gestures towards the pleasures of youth on the left, represented by a lute player and three dancers. Those pleasures are interrupted by death on the right, symbolized by the skulls visible under the two men's cloaks. The castle in the background is believed to be the Chateau de Chaumont, for which the tapestries were presumably commissioned.The Latin verse at the top states that youthful happiness is not eternal: Youth makes sounds as long as its heart is healthy, And thinks that it holds all in its hand. But this triumph is not eternal. Here you see clearly an example: He that is happy has death in his breast. Of this you people should take note.
Related Image Identifier Link:
CMA_.1960.176.2.tif
