Sickness Spears the Stag and Death Sounds His Horn (from The Hunt of the Frail Stag)

Art Historical Context

This vivid tapestry, *Sickness Spears the St and Death Sounds His Horn hails from the South Netherlands around 1495–1510, a age for Flemish weaving centers like Brussels and Tournai. of the larger series * Hunt of the Frailag*, it captures a dramatic allegorical moment in a hunting scene: personified Sickness thrusts a spear into the weary stag, while Death blows his horn, signaling the inevitable end. Surrounding hounds and hunters heighten the tension, evoking medieval themes of human frailty and mortality through the metaphor of the chase. South Netherlandish tapestries were prized luxury goods, adorning castles and churches for their insulating warmth and storytelling power. Woven on a wool warp with colorful wool and silk wefts, this 36-by-35-inch panel showcases the era's masterful techniques—dense, intricate patterns that brought tapestries to rival paintings in detail and vibrancy. The use of silk added shimmering highlights to figures and foliage, making scenes like this hunt burst with life amid a likely millefleurs (thousand flowers) background. Bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1965, this work exemplifies late medieval artistry at the cusp of the Renaissance, reminding visitors of art's role in contemplating life's fleeting hunt.