Gluttony, from the set of Seven Deadly Sins. Designed by Pieter Coecke van Aelst, ca. 1532–34. Woven under the direction of an anonymous master weaver, Brussels, ca. 1550–60. Wool, silk, silver-gilt metal thread; H. 12 ft. 9 in. x 22 ft. 3 in. (388.6 x 678.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Mrs. Frederic R. Coudert, Jr., in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh A. Murray, 1957 (57.62)
Around 1532–4, Pieter Coecke van Aelst designed a seven-piece tapestry series depicting the seven deadly sins, with one panel per sin: Pride, Avarice, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, and Sloth. The Museum is lucky enough to have in its collection one edition of the Gluttony tapestry, which is now on display in the exhibition Grand Design: Pieter Coecke van Aelst and Renaissance Tapestry. Since 2012, the staff of the Metropolitan Museum's Department of Textile Conservation has been preparing the tapestry for display by carrying out technical examinations and conservation treatments on the piece.
The general condition of Gluttony is good. Before entering the Museum's collection in 1957, the tapestry underwent several restoration treatments that strengthened the weaving structure of the piece and maintained its aesthetic by replacing missing design areas. However, the poor quality of the material and the synthetic dyes employed in these early twentieth-century restorations caused stylistic distortions that affect the original Renaissance character of the piece. For example, the bright white silk floss used to replace missing threads in the head of the horse located on the far-right of the tapestry fails to recapture the figure's original fullness.
This photograph shows the integration of missing design areas in the horse's head and hair by bright white silk floss.
Similar visual distortions can be observed in those areas where copper-wrapped, bast-fiber threads replaced the original silver-wrapped threads, for example in the group of angels in the upper center of the scene. While original segments of the inner border are preserved on the right and left sides of the tapestry, later additions were joined to the original structure of the piece on both the top and bottom edges, reproducing the original inner frame design. In this case, although the colors have faded, the new area is well integrated technically and aesthetically.
Analysis of the weaving technique and visual microscopic examination of the obverse (front) and reverse (back) of the tapestry have revealed its high-quality weave. A combination of dyed wool, dyed silk, and silver-gilt metal wrapped around silk threads results in the sophisticated and tight weaving structure of the tapestry, demonstrating a count of eight to ten warp (vertical) threads and twenty to thirty weft (horizontal) threads per centimeter. Technical features such as fine rows of double interlocking weave join different gradations of colors, while hatching in silk, wool, and metallic threads creates the textures of human features and details of the figures' dresses, such as the ornate costume of the taverner on the left side of the scene.
Detail of the obverse (left) and reverse (right) of the taverner's dress on the left side of the scene, showing hatching effect in silver metal threads, in green and yellow silk threads
Distinctive technical effects are also achieved by combining two yarns of the same material with no twist and in different colors. The good preservation of the original colors in a variety of shades ensures a visual appreciation of the whole scene depicted on the tapestry.
The treatment applied to the tapestry in 2012 by the Museum's staff did not remove previous restoration treatments, but the lining and the backing support were replaced with new material, reflecting evolving conservation standards in tapestry-conservation practice. Following a low-suction vacuum cleaning, nine supportive cotton sateen fabric straps were stitched using cotton threads to the reverse of the tapestry in the vertical direction in order to support the most fragile areas of the piece.
This photograph shows the reverse of the tapestry during preparation for display in the Department of Textile Conservation. The nine cotton sateen fabric straps were stitched in correspondence with the most fragile areas, while patches of various dimensions from previous restoration treatments were held in place.
A cotton sateen band was also stitched along the upper edge of the piece to reinforce the structure during the hanging, while another band was added along the bottom of the tapestry to protect it while on display. The tapestry was finally lined with plain-weave cotton fabric. A band of Velcro sewn onto a cotton webbing was stitched through the lining along the upper edge to provide a base for the hanging system.
Associate Research Scientists Federico Carò and Nobuko Shibayama, Associate Curator Elizabeth Cleland, and I will publish the full details of the technical exploration of this tapestry, as well as an analysis of the results, in volume 49 of the Metropolitan Museum Journal (2014).
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Department of Textile Conservation