The Massacre at Jerusalem from The Story of Titus and Vespasian
1650/75
Medium
Wool and silk; slit, dovetailed, and double interlocking tapestry weave Warp: Count: 9 warps per cm; wool: S-ply of four Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.7–0.8 mm Weft: Count: varies from 20 to 38 wefts per cm; wool: S-ply of two Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.5–1.0 mm; silk: pairs and three yarns of S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; diameters: 0.6–1.0 mm; wool and silk: paired yarns of S-ply of two Z-spun wool elements and S-ply of two Z-twisted silk elements; diameters: 0.8–1.0 mm
Dimensions
514 × 367.7 cm (202 3/8 × 144 3/4 in.)
Classification
weaving - tapestry
Department
Textiles
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
78965
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This tapestry belongs to the eight-piece Story of Titus and Vespasian suite designed by Charles Poerson, who practiced the French academic-decorative manner that supplanted the dramatic and monumental Flemish High Baroque. Poerson clearly based the series on book two of Tacitus’s The Jewish War (c. A.D. 75–79). Both Vespasian and his son Titus led the Roman troops during the First Jewish-Roman War (A.D. 66–73), a major rebellion by the Jews of Judaea against the Roman Empire. This tapestry depic...