Title

Peace and Mercy Win the Promise of Redemption for Man. Story of the Redemption of Man. Tapestry from Burgos Cathedral

Generic classification

Object

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Cultural context / style

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Inventory Number in Current Collection

Inscriptions / Marks

On scroll held by the Prophet Jeremiah: Asce[n]dit morS p[er] fenestrAS (Death ascended through the windows [Jeremiah 9:21])

On scroll on poll: speS (hope) 

On scroll held by Moses: redda[m] vlcone [should be ultionem] hostibuS / deut […] (I will deliver vengeance to [my] enemies [Deuteronomy 32:41])

On Jeremiah’s robes: Ierimie (Jeremiah)

Llabeling various figures throughout: IusticiA [should be iustitia] (justice), misericordiA (pity), Iusticia [should be iustitia] (justice), fideS (faith), homo (man), CAs[t]itAS (chastity), PAx (peace), Lux[u]riA (luxury), Misericordia (pity), veritAS (truth), MisericordiA (pity), IusticiA [should be iustitia] [justice], luxuriA (luxury), Avaritia (avarice), grA[tia] dei (the grace of God), homo (man), pAx (peace), nAturiA [should be natura] (nature), MiseriA (misery), GulA (appetite), grA[tia] dei (the grace of God), CaritAS (love), MisericordiA (pity), humlitAS (humility).

(The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Object history

Throughout his life, Bishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca (1451-1524) showed a special taste for luxury and ostentation, which left its mark on the works he undertook as prelate in the dioceses of Badajoz (1495), Córdoba (1499), Palencia (1504) and Burgos (1514). He also had a rich personal collection, which shows his fondness for Flemish tapestries, as can be seen in his will and as evidenced by the present work. Among the rich tapestries he treasured, the main ones, and surely the most valuable, formed a series of ‘ten rich cloths that we have of the story of the Creation’, which he ordered to be distributed: ‘the four cloths to our factory of our holy church of Burgos and the other four cloths to be given to the church of Palencia and the other two we order to be given to the church of Coca...’. His brother, Antonio de Fonseca, took charge of delivering the tapestries, albeit with a considerable delay, as Burgos Cathedral ordered him to deliver the tapestries in 1526, first in January and then in September, at which point it gave him a period of thirty days to do so, or else it would initiate legal proceedings. The executor gave in and on 3 October wrote to the cathedral to let them know that he was sending the tapestries, while apologising for not having done so before, because he had not yet placed the bishop's heraldry on them. This is the series currently known as the Redemption of Man or Vices and Virtues, consisting of ten panels, manufactured in the workshops of Brussels, c. 1510. They lack marks, which has made it difficult to assign authorship, both of the cartoons and of the weaver. The bishop had to acquire them already finished directly in the Netherlands or at fairs such as the one in Medina del Campo (Valladolid), where this type of transaction was frequent. (Zalama and Martínez Ruiz, 2013, pp. 285-286)

The first of the panels in the series, Creation of the World and Man Loses Grace, and the last, Final Judgement and Definitive Defeat of the Vices, were sent to the church of Santa María de Coca (Segovia), where they remained until their disposal on an undetermined date. Of the remaining four, three were taken to Palencia Cathedral: Vices lead Man to sin, Christ the Saviour as a Child, the Virtues challenge the Vices when Christ begins his ministry and Christ ascends to Heaven and man is redeemed before God, where they are currently preserved. The other four panels were given to Burgos Cathedral: Birth of Christ, Peace and Grace obtain the promise of redemption of Man, The Crucifixion and the Virtues win the battle against the Vices, and Resurrection and Descent into Hell. This is how they appeared in a 1560 inventory of the cathedral: ‘four rich tapestries of the Virtues donated by Bishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca’ (López Mata, p. 338). The last two are still part of the heritage of Burgos Cathedral, on display in the chapels of Santa Ana and Santiago (currently part of the Burgos Cathedral Museum), while the other two are part of the catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Zalama and Martínez Ruiz, 2013, p. 286).

How did two of them end up in New York? An internal letter from the antiques firm Duveen, between its Paris and London offices, dated 3 June 1929, offers some clues. The letter reveals that the Spanish antiquarian Raimundo Ruiz was trying to sell some high-quality tapestries from Burgos cathedral that were comparable to those in the Duke of Alba collection auctioned at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris in 1877 — some of which had been bought and sold by Duveen: ‘A Spaniard named Ruiz has been to see us today about the Gothic Tapestries in the Cathedral at Burgos. Apparently he saw you in New York on the matter (...) The tapestries look very fine and most probably are in splendid condition, as these tapestries in Spain, even Gothics as a rule look like now, and the tapestries of Burgos are very celebrated’ (Zalama and Martínez Ruiz, 2013, p. 291).

A representative of the firm Duveen, Edward Fowles, travelled to Burgos to see the tapestries and recorded his impressions in a report sent to J. Duveen on 13 June 1929: ‘... The Cathedral possesses 6 tapestries of the same series quality and size as the ones form of the Duc d'Albe. They only want to sell two of them. The two which are in the best condition and suitable in subject are ‘The marriage of the Virgin’ which is the only one photographed. We enclose you a reproduction thereof. The other is ‘The Last Judgment’. The grouping is very similar to that of ‘The Marriage’ Tapestry but there is no centre group at the bottom. The centre group is at the top and consists of three kings (...) I must admit I am very much in love with them as they are really the highest quality tapestries. The price is 100,000 dollars a piece plus 10% to Ruiz...’. Of excellent quality, but expensive, that was the impression of the Duveen company. The tapestries had been photographed hanging in the cloister of Burgos Cathedral, and these snapshots were sent by Ruiz to the New York antiques firm French & Co., which finally acquired the two tapestries in 1931, paying Raimundo Ruiz $265,000 for them. It is interesting to note that the record of the sale states that the provenance of the tapestries was not to be disclosed, except to the buyer (Zalama and Martínez Ruiz, 2013, p. 293).

It was therefore the antiques firm French & Co. that placed these tapestries in the hands of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at a time when the new space dedicated to the Middle Ages was being set up: The Cloisters, and where Flemish tapestries, very much to the taste of the driving force behind this section of medieval art, John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874-1960), were destined to occupy a fundamental place. The purchase negotiation on the part of the Metropolitan was carried out by James J. Rorimer, the institution's curator of medieval art, who was congratulated by Rockefeller for what he considered an excellent transaction, given that the price paid by the Metropolitan Museum was considerably lower than that which French & Co. had agreed for them: ‘That you have bought: both of these Burgos tapestries for $70,000 plus the articles you mention is a most gratifying and extraordinary trade...’ (Letter from J. D. Rockefeller to J. J. Rorimer on 15th February 1938). As well as being good business, the works were an excellent addition to the museum's collection. Rorimer advised that one of them should go to The Cloisters and the other - the piece in question - to the main museum building on Fifth Avenue in New York. The celebrated acquisition was highlighted by The New York Times in an article dedicated to these tapestries from Burgos Cathedral on 13th June 1938 under the title: ‘Rare tapestry seen at museum; Medieval Work, “Redemption of Man” From Cathedral of Burgos, Is on View Woven about Year 1500 “The Nativity” From the Same Collection, Also Shown at The Cloisters Allegorical Ideas Reflected Called Brilliant Example’. The article extolled the historical and artistic value of the tapestries and congratulated the acquisition of such treasures for the city's great museum. (Martínez Ruiz, 2018; 346-354).

Locations

• ca. 1510 - 1524

  private collection

  Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca Bishop, Burgos (Spain) *

• 1526 - ca. 1929

  cathedral

  Burgos Cathedral, Burgos (Spain)

• ca. 1929 - 1931

  dealer/antiquarian

  Raimundo Ruiz, Madrid (Spain) *

• 1931 - 1938

  dealer/antiquarian

  French & Company, New York (United States) *

• 1938 - present

  museum

  The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (United States)