CIRCA 1510-30

Details

A FRANCO-FLEMISH BIBLICAL TAPESTRY
CIRCA 1510-30
Woven in wools, probably depicting The Prodigal Son Offering Jewels to Luxuria, from The Parable of the Prodigal Son, within a scrolling foliate border, a blue inner and outer slip and a later brown border, reduced in size, areas of reweaving, especially to the background of the border, some patching, including a section to the lower edge of the field and to the centre just right of the left protagonist
7 ft. 9 in. x 5 ft. 6 in. (235 cm. x 167 cm.)

Provenance

Sir John Ramsden, sold Christie's, London, 23-26 May 1932, lot 117 (£304.10).

Literature

A.S. Cavallo, Medieval Tapestries in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1993, p. 515.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

This tapestry almost certainly forms part of a series depicting The Parable of the Prodigal Son. It relates very closely to a panel in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (A.S. Cavallo, Medieval Tapestries in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1993, cat. 41, p. 512), which is accompanied by a panel depicting The Prodigal among the Harlots. The nearly identical figure composition and stance of the figures indicates that the designs for this tapestry formed part of a stock design that could be adapted by each producer to the patron's wishes.

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