id: 127459
accession number: 1950.145
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1950.145
updated: 2023-03-08 14:59:14.138000
Altar Frontal with the Lamentation, c. 1474. Attributed to Cosimo Tura (Italian, c. 1430–1495), Rubinetto de Francia (Italian, active 1457–1483). Wool, silk, gold and silver threads; overall: 104.2 x 199.4 cm (41 x 78 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1950.145
title: Altar Frontal with the Lamentation
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1474
creation date earliest: 1469
creation date latest: 1479
current location:
creditline: John L. Severance Fund
copyright:
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culture: Italy, Ferrara
technique: Wool, silk, gold and silver threads
department: Textiles
collection: Textiles
type: Tapestry
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Cosimo Tura (Italian, c. 1430–1495) - designed by
* Rubinetto de Francia (Italian, active 1457–1483) - woven in the workshop of
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measurements: Overall: 104.2 x 199.4 cm (41 x 78 1/2 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: 35th Anniversary Exhibition
opening date: 1951-06-20T04:00:00
35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).
title: Cosmè Tura: Painting and Design in Renaissance Ferrara
opening date: 2002-01-20T00:00:00
Cosmè Tura: Painting and Design in Renaissance Ferrara. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA (organizer) (January 20-May 12, 2002).
title: Draped in Splendor: Renaissance Textiles and the Church
opening date: 2003-09-07T00:00:00
Draped in Splendor: Renaissance Textiles and the Church. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2003-September 26, 2004).
title: Renaissance Textiles (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115
opening date: 2012-11-14T05:00:00
Renaissance Textiles (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 14, 2012-December 10, 2013).
title: Liturgical Textiles and Manuscripts from Medieval and Early Renaissance Italy (Manuscript and Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115
opening date: 2018-12-05T05:00:00
Liturgical Textiles and Manuscripts from Medieval and Early Renaissance Italy (Manuscript and Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 5, 2018-December 2, 2019).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* 2000 Years of Tapestry Weaving. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT (December 7, 1951-January 27, 1952); Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (February 27-March 25, 1952).
Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance, 1400-1600. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (November 8, 1958-January 4, 1959).
Le Muse e il principe: arte di corte nel Rinascimento Padano, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan, Italy (September 20-December 8, 1991).
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PROVENANCE
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
A decorative textile suspended along the altar’s entire front, an altar frontal was often embellished with gold and silver threads, as seen here. This rare example depicts the lamentation of Christ, a common subject in Christian art in which the body of Christ is mourned after its removal from the cross. This version is highly acclaimed for its emotional intensity. Christ’s body is arranged in the shape of the cross, his shoulder rests on the Virgin’s knees, Saint John the Evangelist cradles his left arm, and Mary Magdalene supports his feet. Joseph of Arimathea carries the three nails with which Christ was crucified. This altar cloth was designed by Cosimo Tura who was employed at the court of Ercole I d’Este, duke of Ferrara, as a painter, illuminator, and tapestry designer between 1475 and 1484. His design was woven by Rubinetto di Francia, who was head of a large tapestry workshop at Ercole’s court. The subject of the design would imply its use during the Easter season.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Heinemann, Rudolf J., and Adolf Feulner. Stiftung Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz. Lugano-Castagnola: Stiftung Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz, 1937.
page number: cat.596, pl. 81
url:
Wadsworth Atheneum, Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, and Charles Crehore Cunningham. 2000 Years of Tapestry Weaving: A Loan Exhibition : Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Dec. 7, 1951 to Jan. 27, 1952 ; the Baltimore Museum of Art, Feb. 27, 1952 to Mar. 25, 1952. Hartford, Conn: Wardsworth Atheneum], 1951.
page number: p. 42, plate XI, p. 73
url:
Shepherd, Dorothy G. ""The Lamentation," a Tapestry Antependium Designed by Cosimo Tura." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 38, no. 2 (1951): 40-29.
page number: p. 40-42
url: www.jstor.org/stable/25141688.
Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisition Press Release,” February 19, 1951, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
page number:
url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr0014
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 214
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n48
Cleveland Museum of Art, and William Mathewson Milliken. The Cleveland Museum of Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1958.
page number: p. 30
url:
Ruhmer, Eberhard. Tura: Paintings and Drawings. London: Phaidon Publ, 1958.
page number: p. 7, 37, 183, pl. IIc
url:
Detroit Institute of Arts, and Paul L. Grigaut. Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance, 1400-1600; The Detroit Institute of Arts [Exhibition] November 18, 1958-January 4, 1959. 1958.
page number: p. 80, no. 189
url:
Viale Ferrero, Mercedes. Arazzi italiani. Milano: Electa editrice, 1962.
page number: p. 13, pl. 4
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page number: Reproduced: p. 83
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n107
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page number: Reproduced: p. 83
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n107
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 96
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n116
Campbell, Stephen J., Cosmè Tura, Luke Syson, and Alan Chong. Cosmè Tura: Painting and Design in Renaissance Ferrara. Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2002.
page number: p. 259-62
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.145/1950.145_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.145/1950.145_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.145/1950.145_full.tif