"Gods, Love, and War:" An Exhibition of Tapestries and Prints from The Carnegie Museum of Art Collection

Yesterday, I went to the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to wander through “Gods, Love, and War,” an exhibition of 16th and 17th Century Northern European tapestries and prints from the collection. The show is an astounding composition of thematically, symbolically, and technically aligned pieces, which despite their varying mediums and dramatic shifts in scale, wrap up perfectly like a little package. I want to buy the curator a drink....

The curatorial decisions that went into this exhibition were both thoughtful and thought-provoking, emphasizing the narrative and technical overlaps between the tapestries and prints, as well as the outstanding quality of the selected pieces. The assembled works formed an extensive reflection on the “artistic, social, and political values of the time.” However, it is the overlap that the curator draws between such different scales of art that conveys these meanings in thematic, symbolic, and technical terms.

Two of my favorite pieces from the exhibition were the “Winter” and “Autumn” tapestries from “The Seasons of Lucas” series from the late 17th Century. Produced by the Gobelins Manufactory in Paris, the wool pieces are so masterfully woven and dyed that each is truly breathtaking. I must admit that I have never had the opportunity to study tapestries in depth, but as I moved through the exhibit, I could not wait to study them in the future. However, from what I gather online, tapestries were some of the most valuable objects of the 16th and 17th Centuries. In addition to their compelling decorative purpose, they served as insulation for the cold, lofty castles of Northern European royalty.

Both “Winter” and “Autumn” depict peasants at “labor and leisure” and are laced with religious symbolism to carry out their moralizing purpose, which is characteristic of the Counter-Reformation. In ‘Winter,’ for instance, Boreas, a mythological figure representing the North Wind, blows the cold winter wind over the scene. “A fire rages in the distance, a visual tactic often used to depict the Last Judgment, the fire serves as a reminder of the consequences of [immorality].” Beyond its religious symbolism, the tapestry is noteworthy for the remarkable skill with which it is composed. The artist applies atmospheric perspective masterfully, creating a convincing transition from the foreground to the middleground, to the background that is fluid, compelling, and filled with beautiful pastel colors. The fluidity of color is so naturalistic and delicate, in fact, that the tapestry is reminiscent of a water color painting, particularly in the varying textures and colors that compose the ground. In my experience, the artist’s rendering of the scene was so compelling that it overshadowed the lack of a number of representational developments of the Renaissance, including linear perspective and naturalistic sense of scale.

The exhibition also includes a snappy little show of prints by the print-making masters of the Northern European Renaissance, including Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder. During this period, prints flooded the art market due to development of the fine arts printing press in the mid-15th Century. These prints share many thematic and symbolic qualities with the tapestries of the period, including biblical scenes and scenes of common people laced with religious imagery. The integration of virtuosity in tapestries from the period is also integrated in the prints, but from what I can conclude from the exhibition, to a further extent. For instance, Albrecht Durer’s series on The Life of the Virgin, a series which he considered to be the masterpiece of his career, is a collection of sophisticated representations of the Madonna, which combine linear perspective, naturalistic treatment of landscape, and a skillful rendering of human interactions. “The Annunciation,” a print from his series on the Virgin, created between 1502 and 1504, exemplifies his application of these representational developments. Framed by a series of receding arches, he approaches the scene scientifically, treating space, light, and texture naturalistically and deliberately with fine hatching. He fills the scene with characteristic religious symbolism, including a vacant pot and open book – each a metaphor for the Virgin Mother – and a remarkably crafted dove atop Mary’s head. I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to view this series – a paramount achievement in Durer’s career – alongside some of the most remarkable tapestries of the period. The curatorial decision to organize an exhibition of tapestries and prints, each the end products of mechanical processes, results in a synergy of strengthened meaning through parallel themes, symbols, and virtuosity.


Please note that all quotations come from narratives posted on the walls of the exhibition.