Artist unknown / Allegorical 'Millefleurs' Tapestry with Animals / about 1510

Artist unknown
Allegorical 'Millefleurs' Tapestry with Animals
about 1510
View Larger Image

View Full Catalog Record Below

This image is one of over 108,000 from the AMICA Library (formerly The Art Museum Image Consortium Library- The AMICO Library™), a growing online collection of high-quality, digital art images from over 20 museums around the world. www.davidrumsey.com/amica offers subscriptions to this collection, the finest art image database available on the internet. EVERY image has full curatorial text and can be studied in depth by zooming into the smallest details from within the Image Workspace.

Preview the AMICA Library™ Public Collection in Luna Browser Now

Cultures and time periods represented range from contemporary art, to ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian works.
Types of works include paintings, drawings, watercolors, sculptures, costumes, jewelry, furniture, prints, photographs, textiles, decorative art, books and manuscripts.

Gain access to this incredible resource through either a monthly or a yearly subscription and search the entire collection from your desktop, compare multiple images side by side and zoom into the minute details of the images. Visit www.davidrumsey.com/amica for more information on the collection, click on the link below the revolving thumbnail to the right, or email us at amica@luna-img.com .

Creator Name: Unknown
Creator Nationality: European; Dutch
Creator Role: weavers
Creator Name-CRT: Artist unknown
Title: Allegorical 'Millefleurs' Tapestry with Animals
View: front
Creation Start Date: 1500
Creation End Date: 1520
Creation Date: about 1510
Creation Place: Bruges (probably)
Object Type: Textiles
Classification Term: woven
Materials and Techniques: wool, silk
Dimensions: H.138-7/8 x W.157-3/4 in., irregular
AMICA Contributor: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Owner Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ID Number: 34.4
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. C. J. Martin in memory of Charles Jairus Martin
Rights: http://www.artsmia.org/restrictions.html
Context:

Millefleurs (thousand-flower) tapestries became popular in the late Middle Ages. Some contained flowers only; others, like this one, included animals and birds. Pictured here are common animals such as deer and rabbits as well as exotic creatures like the lion, leopard, and unicorn. They are symbolic as well as decorative. The unicorn, for example, represents either Christ or the Virgin Mary. The three clumps of rosebushes forming a triangle, allude to the Trinity (God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), while the barking hound (lower left) and wild falcon (top right) stand for the Devil or other evil forces.

Tapestries were costly items, requiring much time and skill to produce. Often several weavers worked together on a single tapestry, each completing about one square yard a month. Some weavers specialized in features such as architectural elements or foliage. The master weaver, who supervised the project, wove the most difficult areas.

AMICA ID: MIA_.34.4
Measurement Unit: in
AMICA Library Year: 1998
Media Metadata Rights: ?The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

AMICA PUBLIC RIGHTS: a) Access to the materials is granted for personal and non-commercial use. b) A full educational license for non-commercial use is available from Cartography Associates at www.davidrumsey.com/amica/institution_subscribe.html c) Licensed users may continue their examination of additional materials provided by Cartography Associates, and d) commercial rights are available from the rights holder.