Five scenes from the Story of the Prodigal Son. Silk and gilt-silver yarns and purl embroidered on linen; raised work; mica. Good condition. Tortoiseshell frame, glazed.

velluto di seta tagliato unito color verde e ricamato con argento filato, applicazioni di stoffa beige e seta cremisi in filo

The model was first created by Algardi for a version in silver, which was presented to Pope Innocent X in 1646.

Linen (warp) and cotton (weft) twill ground, embroidered with neutral red crewels in stem, asparagus and other fancy and knotted stitches. Field shows regular repeat of single elements: lily sprig, daffodill sprig, bird, snail, butterfly and caterpillar. Border shows conventionalized blossoms and leaves in scallop effect. Ground fabric browned, worn, patched.

The scene of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba was probably worked from a commercially available kit, as a raised-work embroidery of the same design is also known.

This panel was probably intended as a cushion cover. It illustrates scenes from the life of the biblical patriarch Abraham, as recounted in the Book of Genesis. The central scene shows Abraham being informed by a host of angels that his wife Sarah will bear him a son, despite her advanced age. Other scenes include Abraham banishing his servant Hagar and her son by Abraham, Ishmael (lower left corner), and Abraham's attempted sacrifice of Sarah's son Isaac, the act he was ordered by God to perform as a test of his faith (upper right corner).Biblical narratives were extremely popular subjects for seventeenth-century pictorial embroideries, and a number of other examples depicting the life of Abraham exist. The imagery of the Museum's example is derived from engravings after Maarten de Vos which first appeared in Gerard de Jode's 1579 illustrated bible Thesaurus Sacrarum Historiarum Veteris Testamenti, published in Antwerp. These engravings were also the inspiration for other biblical embroideries, such as the story of David and Bathsheba, and David and Abigail (see 64.101.1325).

Ground: white satin. Design: on front and back cover, tree in the center, with border of flowers (roses, honeysuckle (?) and pansies). On back-binding four similar flowers. Worked with silk (greens, blues, yellows, pinks, and reds) and purl (gilded silver). Stitches: satin, couching, and French knots. Lined with yellow. Yellow silk pocket inside each cover. Cover and pockets stiffened with cardboard. Worn olive-green ribbon sewed to edge of back cover. Satin frayed at edges; lining edged.

Long narrow piece of linen, joined in the middle by stitches, divided into eleven decorative bands reticella, cut-work and drawn-work. The finish on the ends suggests that it may have been cut from a longer piece.

Unfinished whitework sampler, now backed with orange silk.  
Ground: colored linen.  Design: ten horizontal bands of geometric ornament in drawn-work and cut-work, and one band at the bottom in punto in area with two figures in a landscape (Annunciation?  Cupid pointing an arrow at a woman?). Stitches: double hem; cut work including buttonhole, buttonhole picot, knotted buttonhole. Similar design dated 1643 (Ashton, Samplers, fig. 9).  Linen is fringed across bottom.

1626 / 1675, England

1626 / 1675, England

Description