Betty Kurth, 1946 - 48 - Glasgow Museums

Catalogue
Burrell Collection
[Betty Kurth, 1946 - 48]
[46.53 - 54]
Two Fragments from the “Apocalypse of Angers”
Paris, Third quarter of the fourteenth century.
I)
II)
Fragment with the bust of an Angel in a landscape
Fragment with a Gothic Church
Measures:
I)
II)
36 in. high, 33 in. wide
28 in. high, 44½ in. wide.
Material, technique, preservation: Wool 12-13 warps to the inch.
I)
II)
Incomplete on all four sides.
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Description:
I)
II)
On the left appears an Angel, of which only the bust is preserved, with a halo
and large upright wings. To the right only a hilly landscape is seen set with trees
and stylised bunches of grass. The background is overspun with tendrils of
ornamental foliage, partly growing out of the mouth of a fabulous winged little
animal.
To the right appears a hilly landscape with a large tree, the ground set with
clusters of flowers and bunches of stylised grass. On the left stands a Gothic
Church with pinnacles, pointed gables, two large lancet windows and a large
open porch.
History: We happen to have the most accurate information, concerning the origin of this
famous tapestry-set. We know from different records, that Louis I. Duke of Anjou, brother
to Charles V, King of France, ordered the tapestries to be made in the workshops of
Nicolas Bataille, weaver and tapestry-merchant of Paris, between the years 1375 and
1379. They were finished in the beginning of the fifteenth century. The drawing of the
cartoons was entrusted to Hennequin or Jean de Bruges, Court painter to Charles V.
It is interesting to trace back the subsequent history and tragic fate of these tapestries. For
a long time, after having been given by René of Anjou to the Cathedral at Angers, they
were preserved there and hung in the nave on festivals. But at the end of the eighteenth
century when tapestries and especially Gothic works went out of fashion, the Chapter
decided to sell the whole set. No purchaser could be found and the cannons [sic] were
forced to retain their treasures. So they resolved to make them useful in some way or
other and employed them in the greenhouse to protect the vegetables and orange trees
from the frost. But that was not all. They spread them over the parquet floor, while the
ceilings were being painted. They cut them to pieces and used them as carpet lining. They
even nailed them in strips on the stalle [sic] of the Bishop’s stables, to prevent the horses
from bruising themselves. In 1843 a sale was at last effected. And these invaluable
masterpieces of the fourteenth century fetched a price of 300 francs. Fortunately after
being repaired, of the 105 pictures 72 remained which were restored to the Cathedral of
Angers, whereas some of the smaller fragments seem to have found a home in private
collections, like the two pieces described above.
Style: The Court painter to Charles V, Hennequin or Jean de Bruges, is known to have
been a painter of illuminated manuscripts. The style of his usual work may well have
influenced his tapestry cartoons. Moreover we find in an inventory of the Library of King
Charles the following entry: “L’Apocalypse en Français toute figurée et ystoriee et en
prose”, and the marginal note: “Le Roy l’a baillée à Monsieur d’Anjou pour faire son tapis.”
(The King has lent it to Mr. d’Anjou, to make his tapestry). And in fact the comparison of
the tapestry pictures with various illuminated Apocalypse-manuscripts, shows that
compositions and figures were taken from these models. Not one manuscript only was
used, but miniatures from several different codices were copied, including one Apocalypse
in the Library at Cambrai, and the above mentioned work, lent by the King Charles V to his
brother, which is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale.
The pictorial style of the small, isolated tapestry panels, each in its woven frame, the
backgrounds, partly overspun with stylised flowers and foliage, the fragile elegance of the
figures, their swinging and curving outlines, the wormlike forms of the hair, the delicate
colouring, dominated by tender rose and blue, the elaborate completeness of the narrative,
these all are indications pointing to the origin of the designs in miniature painting.
References: (Regarding the Apocalypse panels in the Cathedral at Angers)
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Leon de Joannis, Les Tapisseries de l’Apocalypse de la Cathédrale d’Angers. 1864
Jules Guiffrey, L’auteur de la tapisserie de l’Apocalypse d’Angers. Mémoires de la
Societé nationale de Antiquaires de France. Tome XXXVIII. 1877. p.42-66
Jules Guiffrey, Histoire Générale de la Tapisserie en France. 1880. p.11
Jules Guiffrey, Nicolas Bataille Tapissier Parisien du XIV.e siècle, etc. Memoires de
la Société de l’Histoire et de l’Ile de France. X. 1883. p.268 seq.
Maxence Petit, Les Apocalypse-manuscrits du Moyen âge et les tapisseries de la
Cathédrale d’Angers. 1896. (Extrait du Moyen âge 1896).
Louis de Farcy, Les Tapisseries de la Cathédrale d’Angers, in Monographie de la
Cathédrale d’Angers. Le Mobilier. Angers 1901. p.87 seq.
Gaston Migeon, La tenture de l’Apocalypse de la Cathédrale d’Angers. Revue de
l’Art Chrétien 4e. série. T.XV.1904. p.435
Jules Guiffrey, Les Tapisseries du XIIe à la Fin du XVIe siècle. Paris 1911
Betty Kurth, Gotische Bildteppiche aus Frankreich und Flandern, München 1923.
J. Demotte, La Tapisserie Gothique. Paris 1923.
G.L. Hunter, The Practical Book of Tapestry. Philadelphia 1925.
Heinrich Göbel, Wandteppiche.II.Teil.1928.
W.G. Thomson, A History of Tapestry. First edition. 1906. Second edition 1930.
J.J. Marquet de Vasselot, et Roger Armand Weigert, Bibliographie de la Tapisserie
1935. p.123-127.
Ch. Urseau, Le Musée des tapisseries d’Angers, p.8
R. Planchenault, Bulletin de la Société nationale des Antiquaires de France. 1941.
p.136 squ.1944. 5th July [sic]
A. Leiard, Les Tapisseries de l’Apocalypse 1942. Article in “Les Cahiers de Pincé”
1943.
André Léjard, French Tapestry 1947