Entombment of Christ

Designerattributed to Jean Fierret (Flemish, active from 1496)

Place of OriginFlanders

Dateabout 1500-1525

DimensionsW. 94 1/2 in. (240 cm).

MediumWool and silk

ClassificationTextiles and Fiber

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1934.91

Not on View

Label TextRichly woven, this tapestry shows the Entombment of Christ. The body of Jesus lies on a tomb inscribed in Latin, Humani Generis Redemptori (To the Redeemer of Mankind). He is surrounded, from left to right, by Joseph of Arimathea, holding the crown of thorns, Saint John, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Nicodemus. Tapestries were significant artistic productions in the later Middle Ages in Europe. From the second half of the 14th century, they increasingly became part of the elaborate decorative schemes of both ecclesiastical and elite secular spaces. The size and subject of this tapestry suggest that it was an altar frontal. The lush vegetal design backing the figures is called millefleurs (meaning “a thousand flowers” in French), referring to the many species of plants scattered over the dark blue background. This type of tapestry was fashionable from about 1400 to 1550 and was a specialty of the tapestry weavers in the Southern Netherlands. The monograms “JS” and “MS” written above scrolls with the name “de Mailly” allude to the tapestry’s original owners, who unfortunately remain unknown.Published ReferencesAckerman, Phyllis, “Tapestries of Five Centuries: I. The French Gothic Looms,” International Studio, vol. 76, October 1922, p. 50 (illustrated) (Ascribed to Touraine).

DeMotte, G.J., La Tapisserie Gothique, Paris, Demotte, 1924, pls. 61 and 62, p. 4.

Ackerman, Phyllis, “Recently Identified Designers of Gothic Tapestries,” ART BULLETIN, Vol. IX, No. 4, December 1926, p. 153.

Godwin, Blake-More, “A Magnificent Gothic Tapestry,” Toledo Museum News, No. 75, June 1936, repr.

Interiors, Vol. 118, No. 5, December 1958, p. 109 repr.

Guide, Toledo Museum of Art, 1959, p. 12, repr.

Christie, Mary Joanne, The Picture Story of Art, Toledo, Ohio, Gregorian Press, 1963, pp. 64, 65, repr. p. 65, no. 91.

Riefstahl, Rudolf, M., “Medieval Art,” in Toledo Museum News, New Series, Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring 1964, p. 20, repr. (also published as “Medieval Art”).

“Medieval Art at Toledo: A Selection,” Apollo, Vol. 86, no. 76, Dec. 1967, p. 443, repr. fig. 19.

Asselberths, Jean-Paul; Les tapisseries flamandes aux etats-unis d’amerique, Bruxelles, 1974, p. 22.

Putney, Richard H., Medieval Art, Medieval People: The Cloister Gallery of the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 2002, p. 28, repr. (col.) fig. 18.

Exhibition History

San Francisco, Museum of Art, Retrospective Exhibition of European Tapestries, 1922, no. 8, p. 31, repr. pl. 8.

Chicago, The Arts Club, Loan Exhibition of Gothic Tapestries, 1926, p. 23, p. 47, repr. as frontispiece. New York, French & Co., The Taste of the Connoisseurs, Inaugural Exhibition, October 1958.