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Scenes from the Life of the Virgin

ca. 1500
On view at The Met Cloisters in Gallery 19
Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the focus of intense veneration in the late Middle Ages. Possibly created as an altar frontal, this hanging depicts scenes from her life: her Birth, the Annunciation, the Visitation with her cousin Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist), the Nativity of Jesus, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and her Coronation by the Trinity. At the top, two angels hold the vera icon, an image of the imprint of Christ’s face believed to have been miraculously imprinted on the veil of Saint Veronica as Jesus was led to his Crucifixion.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Scenes from the Life of the Virgin
  • Date: ca. 1500
  • Geography: Made in Strasbourg, Alsace, present-day France
  • Culture: Upper Rhenish
  • Medium: Linen warp; wool, linen, silk, silver, and gilt wefts; wool pile yarns
  • Dimensions: 41 x 138 in. (104.1 x 350.5 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Tapestries
  • Credit Line: Gift of Charles F. Iklé, 1957
  • Object Number: 57.126
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

More Artwork

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The Unicorn Purifies Water (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
The Unicorn Purifies Water (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
1495–1505
The Hunters Enter the Woods (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp, wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
The Hunters Enter the Woods (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
1495–1505
The Unicorn Defends Himself (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
The Unicorn Defends Himself (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
1495–1505
The Hunters Return to the Castle (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
The Hunters Return to the Castle (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
1495–1505
The Unicorn Crosses a Stream (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
The Unicorn Crosses a Stream (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
1495–1505

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