Medieval theology often interpreted episodes from Hebrew scripture as prefigurations of events in the New Testament. The Sacrifice of Isaac, for example, was seen as an allusion to the Crucifixion. The present embroidery likely had a pendant depicting scenes from the life of Christ. The presence of saints venerated especially in Hildesheim, such as Epiphanius, Bernward, and Godehard, supports an attribution to a convent in the vicinity. The coats of arms are those of the landgrave of Hesse and the house of Lichtfuss.
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Title:Embroidered Hanging
Date:late 14th century
Geography:Made in probably Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany
Culture:German
Medium:Silk on linen, painted inscriptions
Dimensions:63 x 62 1/2 in. (160 x 158.8 cm)
Classification:Textiles-Embroidered
Credit Line:Gift of Mrs. W. Murray Crane, 1969
Accession Number:69.106
Inscription: Landgrave of Hesse and House of Lichtfuss.
From the Monastery of Wienhausen; Princess Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen ; Mrs. W. Murray Crane American, New York (until 1969)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Arts of the Middle Ages: A Loan Exhibition," February 17–March 24, 1940.
New York. The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Medieval Art from Private Collections," October 30, 1968–March 30, 1969.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976.
Braunschweig, Germany. Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum. "Stadt im Wandel. Kunst und Kultur des Bürgertums in Norddeutschland," August 25, 1985–November 24, 1985.
Farcy, Louis de. La broderie du XIe siècle jusqu'à nos jours, d'après des spécimens authentiques et les anciens inventaires.. 2nd supplement ed. Angers: Belhomme, 1919.
Schuette, Marie. Gestickte Bildteppiche und Decken des Mittelalters: Volume 2, Braunschweig. Die Kloster Ebstorf und Isenhagen. Wernigerode. Kloster Drübeck Halberstadt. Leipzig: Karl W. Hiersemann, 1930.
Arts of the Middle Ages: A Loan Exhibition. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1940. no. 103, p. 36, pl. LI.
Gómez-Moreno, Carmen. Medieval Art from Private Collections: A Special Exhibition at The Cloisters, October 30, 1968 through January 5, 1969. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968. no. 199.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Ninety-Ninth Annual Report of the Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Fiscal Year 1968-1969." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 28, no. 2 (October 1969). p. 85.
Young, Bonnie. "Needlework by Nuns: A Medieval Religious Embroidery." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 28, no. 6 (February 1970). pp. 263–277, fig. 1, 8–17.
Mayer, Christa C. "An Early German Needlework Fragment." The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 6 (1971). pp. 68–69, ill. p. 68.
Raggio, Olga, ed. "Medieval Art and the Cloisters." Notable Acquisitions (Metropolitan Museum of Art) no. 1965/1975 (1975). p. 164.
Meckseper, Cord, ed. Stadt im Wandel: Kunst und Kultur des Bürgertums in Norddeutschland, 1150–1650. Ausstellungskatalog. Vol. 2. Braunschweig: Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, 1985. no. 1081, pp. 1243–44.
Staniland, Kay. Embroiderers. Medieval Craftsmen. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991. p. 38.
Wilckens, Leonie von. Die textilen Künste: von der Spätantike bis um 1500. Munich: C. H. Beck, 1991. p. 231.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. no. 77, pp. 112, 196.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. 75th Anniversary ed. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. p. 117.
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