Notes to the Reader

Brosens, Koenraad

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Notes to the Reader

Koenraad Brosens

European Tapestries in the Art Institute of Chicago

The catalogue entries for Franco-Flemish, Flemish, and French tapestries are grouped in separate sections. In the Flemish and French sections, the entries arc further organized by city or manufactory of origin, and, finally, by date of production. A fourth section encompasses tapestries from other areas, and is organized first by region and then chronologically. The fifth and final section...

Author

Koenraad Brosens

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23564

Notes to the Reader

Organization of the Catalogue and Format of Entries

The catalogue entries for Franco-Flemish, Flemish, and French tapestries are grouped in separate sections. In the Flemish and French sections, the entries are further organized by city or manufactory of origin, and, finally, by date of production. A fourth section encompasses tapestries from other areas, and is organized first by region and then chronologically. The fifth and final section contains entries on two table carpets, which have been separated from the other objects discussed in this volume because their intended function differs.

The basic information at the beginning of each entry was prepared by the Department of Textiles of the Art Institute of Chicago, sometimes with contributions from the author responsible for the main text of the entry, whose initials appear at its end. The initials are:

CCMT: Christa C. Mayer Thurman

CBD: Charissa Bremer-David

EC: Elizabeth Cleland

KB: Koenraad Brosens

NFG: Nello Forti Grazzini

PFB: Pascal-François Bertrand

The date of manufacture follows the location of production. Where possible, the date of execution of a design or cartoon is also provided after the name of the artist(s) who made it. In both cases, the following dating conventions are used:

1625	if designed or woven in 1625
c. 1625	if designed or woven sometime around 1625
1625–30	if the design or weaving was begun in 1625 and completed in 1630
1625/30	if designed or woven sometime within or around the years 1625 to 1630
c. 1625–30	if the design or weaving was begun sometime around 1625 and definitely completed in 1630
1625–c. 1630	if the design or weaving was begun in 1625 and completed sometime around 1630

The following attribution phrases are used:

After a design by: The tapestry was woven based on a design by the named artist and/or his workshop.

After a cartoon by: The tapestry was woven using cartoons by the named artist and/or his workshop.

Attributed to: Believed to be designed or woven by the artist, workshop, or workshop manager named, but lacking final confirmation.

Produced at the workshop of: The tapestry was produced at the workshop of the family or specific manager named.

Where known, life dates or activity dates are provided upon the first mention in each entry of an artist, manager, weaver, or other person involved in the production of tapestries.

The marks and signatures that appear on the catalogued tapestries are illustrated in the inventory entitled “Marks and Signatures” at the back of the catalogue.

The dimensions of the catalogued tapestries are given first in centimeters, warp before weft, with dimensions in inches following in parentheses. Dimensions for all other tapestries, both those in the collection of the Art Institute and those held by other institutions or individuals, as well as all other objects, are given in centimeters, height before width. Where centimeter measurements were unavailable, inch measurements are provided.

Given the size of these tapestries, the weft measurements recorded in the structure descriptions at the beginning of each entry were generally taken from the ground wefts along the outer edges of each work. Where possible, attempts were made to sample the wefts of all fibers represented in the tapestries. These efforts were limited only by the reach of the stereomicroscope.

The medium and structure descriptions employ terminology familiar to textile historians, curators, and conservators. The Art Institute’s system was developed beginning in the 1970s by Lorna A. Filippini, then Associate Conservator of Textiles, and Christa C. Mayer Thurman, Curator and Conservator of Textiles, and has been continuously refined. The system is based on the principles set forth by Irene Emery in The Primary Structures of Fabrics: An Illustrated Classification (1966, 1980) and by Dorothy K. Burnham in Warp and Weft: A Textile Terminology (1980), as well as on the vocabulary introduced in the 1950s by CIETA (Centre International d’Etude des Textiles Anciens) to standardize the technical terms used in all languages.

Unless otherwise noted, the conservation of each tapestry was performed at De Wit Royal Manufacturers in Mechelen, Belgium, through the generosity of the individual or organization named.

Each catalogue entry contains a references section listing the publications (including exhibition catalogues) in which the tapestry is discussed and/or illustrated. If an exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue, a parenthetical reference to the catalogue follows the exhibition citation. The presence of an illustration in a publication is indicated by the abbreviation (ill.) following the page number(s) on which the image appears. It is assumed that an object is illustrated in any publication in which it appears as a catalogued item.

In descriptions of actions within a tapestry, left and right generally correspond to the viewers left and right, though they may correspond to those of the characters within the scene, as signaled by phrases such as “his right hand” or “the table’s left side.”

Infrared Photography

The infrared photographs of cats. 8a and 8b were taken in 1976 by Timothy Lennon, former Conservator of Paintings at the Art Institute, using a Deardorff large-format camera with a Tiffen series 9, 87 C filter and infrared lamps. The dark areas in the images indicate those sections that are original, while the lighter areas were rewoven centuries later based on photographs of the original cartoon.

Biblical Quotations

Biblical quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible, unless otherwise noted.

Quotations in Foreign Languages

Quotations of nonbiblical texts are given in the original language where possible, followed by an English translation in parentheses. The translations were made by the author of the entry in which they appear, unless otherwise noted.

Bibliographical References

The citations listed in the references section, as well as in the endnotes, are primarily given in a short form. For the complete citation, please refer to the bibliography at the back of the book. Sale catalogues are generally not cited in the references section.

Citations of archival documents employ the following abbreviations:

ANP: Archives Nationales, Paris

ARAB: Algemeen Rijksarchief te Anderlecht, Brussels

GCPA: Getty Collection Photography Archive, Los Angeles

MC: Minutier Central, Archives Nationales, Paris

MN: Manufacture National de Beauvais: Prix des ouvrages et comptes des ouvriers, Mobilier National, Paris

NGB: Notariaat Generaal van Brabant, Algemeen Rijksarchief te Anderlecht, Brussels

PR: Parochieregister, Stadsarchief, Brussels

RT: Register der Tresorije, Stadsarchief, Brussels

SAB: Stadsarchief, Brussels

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