Page:Textile fabrics; a descriptive catalogue of the collection of church-vestments, dresses, silk stuffs, needle-work and tapestries, forming that section of the Museum (IA textilefabricsde00soutrich).pdf/581



figures, mostly symbolizing vices. "Violentia" is figured by a youthful woman, who, with a sheathed sword by her side, is driving before her a captive young man, whom she holds by the cords which tie his hands behind him, and whom she hurries onwards by the blows from a thick staff that she wields in her uplifted right hand. "Depredatio," with her fingers ending at their tips in long sharp ravenous nails, is riding astride a lion. "Gratitudo" is a gentle young maiden, who is seated with a bird in her lap, a stork, which she seems to be fondling. "Pugna," or brawling, is shown by two middle-aged women of the lower class. With their dishevelled hair hanging all about their shoulders, they are in the height of a fight, and the woman with a bunch of keys hanging from her girdle has overcome the other, and is tugging at one of her long locks. "Tyrannis" is an old haggish female with dog-like feet, and she brandishes a sword; almost every one of the other women on the border has, curiously enough, one foot resembling that of an animal. In several parts of the composition besides the border, in the warp and for shading, golden thread has been woven in, but so scantily employed, and the gold itself of such a debased bad quality, that the metal from being tarnished to quite a dull black tone is hardly discernible.

The costume, like the scenery and buildings, has nothing of an oriental character about it, but is fashioned after an imagined classic model.

Tapestry Wall-hanging; subject, the Progress of Avarice. Flemish, middle of the 17th century.

Up above within the border of this large piece is a tablet bearing this inscription:—

"Semper eget sitiens mediis ceu Tantalus undis Inter anhelatas semper avarus opes."

Beginning at the top left hand of the subject represented, we see a murky sort of vapour streaked by a flash of red lightning. Amid this brownish darkness, peopled with horrid little phantoms and small fantastic sprites, we discover a diminutive figure of Death wielding a long-handled curiously-headed scythe.

Just below is a man pointing with his right hand up to Death, and with his left hand to a little harpy before him; behind him stands a