Detail of woman pouring water, from The Quest for Fodder tapestry in a set of the Conquest of Tunis. Designed by Jan Cornelisz. Vermeyen with Pieter Coecke van Aelst, ca. 1546–50. Woven under the direction of Willem de Pannemaker, Brussels, 1550–52. Wool, silk, and silver- and silver-gilt-wrapped threads; 17 ft. 2 1/4 in. x 30 ft. 8 7/8 in. (524 x 937 cm). Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid (TA 13/6, 10005907). Photograph by Bruce White
Accompanying the exhibition Grand Design: Pieter Coecke van Aelst and Renaissance Tapestry is a fully illustrated catalogue by the same name. This lavish publication, the first comprehensive volume devoted to this Renaissance master since 1966, includes new, exceptionally detailed images of many of the exhibition's tapestries. The man behind most of these, and so many other, beautiful images is Bruce White, award-winning photographer and long-time Met collaborator. Bruce and I recently discussed his thoughts on tapestries, photography, and beauty.
Sarah Mallory: How long have you been a photographer?
Bruce White: Thirty-four years. But I first photographed tapestries while employed at Sotheby's in NYC in 1986. I was fortunate to have been able to work with veteran photographers there who taught me a great deal about how to look at art and bring out the essence of an object in an efficient manner. Since that time, I've contributed images to thirty-two Metropolitan Museum of Art catalogues, including Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence and Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor.
Sarah Mallory: Is photographing a tapestry similar or dissimilar to photographing other works of art?
Bruce White: Photographing any work of art is akin to telling a story. I use lighting techniques to bring out the detail and color of a work, and camera angles and image cropping to enhance the form. These choices, made by the photographer, direct the viewer's attention and distinguish and highlight different parts of an object. The photographer uses these devices to tell a visual story, much as an author uses simile, metaphor, and analogy. But I do not use any imaging software to enhance or alter a work of art, a practice that I feel is very important in terms of maintaining the integrity of the visual record of an object.
Detail showing the sparkle of silver-metal-wrapped threads and the many textures and patterns in the garments of Vertumnus, from Vertumnus Appears to Pomona in the Guise of a Herdsman tapestry in a set of the Story of Vertumnus and Pomona. Design attributed to Pieter Coecke van Aelst, ca. 1544. Woven under the direction of Willem de Pannemaker, Brussels, sometime between ca. 1548 and 1575. Wool, silk, and silver- and silver-gilt-metal-wrapped threads; 13 ft. 8 5/8 in. x 17 ft. 7 in. (418 x 536 cm). In the collection of the Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid (TA 17/2, 10004061). Photograph by Bruce White
Sarah Mallory: What do you mean by "maintaining the integrity of the visual record of an object"?
Bruce White: Some time ago, I photographed one of the most important suits of armor in the collection of the Royal Palace in Madrid, the KD armor, made for Charles V around 1525. While taking a detail photograph of the helmet, I noticed a prominent dent over its right eye. Interestingly, the curator of the collection pointed out to me that the dent that was evident in a book of detailed watercolor paintings that had been made to inventory the entire holdings of the Royal collection in 1544. So we had visual confirmation that the dent had been part of the history of the object from that time! Shortly after my arrival back to New York from Madrid, I was photographing an ancient Chinese vase in a museum collection. The curator I was working with asked me to photograph one side of the vase that had a beautifully painted image of flowers on it. Unfortunately, it had been damaged at some point in time, and there was a break on the neck of the vase just above the painting. The curator mentioned that he wanted to illustrate that side, but asked if we could use Photoshop to remove the damaged section of the vase. I then told him the story of the armor, and he agreed that it would be a shame to gloss over the history of the object in an effort to make it "better"!
Sarah Mallory: In some sense, your photographs, because they are so detailed, do make the pieces better by giving us an up-close view of them we might not have been able to see—even if those views show the age of the piece. In the catalogue, your photographs of the tapestries' details articulate aspects of the pieces' beauty and history. How do you select these details?
Bruce White: My work is generally commissioned to accompany an author's text. I meet with the author to discuss which details are necessary to tell the story of the works of art they will discuss, prior to embarking on a photographic campaign. Quite often, the tapestries in question haven't been exhibited publicly in many years, and are only known from illustrations in books—many of which are in black and white—or on the web. When I take photographs for MMA catalogues, I get to be in front of the actual work of art, and so I am able to make decisions about whether or not additional details are needed to round out what the author has requested. In this case, the old maxim "less is more" does not usually apply, as it is the beauty of the intricate details in a tapestry that makes them so compelling. With proper lighting, it's possible to make a work that seems a bit distressed with age at first glance look really beautiful.
Sarah Mallory: Your image of the face of Eve from the God Accuses Adam and Eve after the Fall tapestry reveals some areas of wear—small white, horizontal lines—but it also shows the incredible detail of the weaving and astounding range of thread colors: the blue in her eyes, the pink in her lips, and the subtle shading on her skin that makes it look so life-like. This is one of our favorite images. Do you have a favorite image of a tapestry?
Detail of Eve, from God Accuses Adam and Eve after the Fall tapestry in a set of The Story of Creation. Design attributed to Pieter Coecke van Aelst, ca. 1548. Woven under the direction of Jan de Kempeneer and Frans Ghieteels, Brussels, completed by 1551. Wool, silk, and silver- and silver-gilt-wrapped threads. Florence Instituti Museale della Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino (Arazzi 1912–25, 17). Photograph by Bruce White
Bruce White: I don't have a favorite tapestry … it's like asking which of your children is your favorite; you love them all for different reasons. But if I had to pick my favorite tapestry images, I'd choose one of two images that I took for Met publications. One image that I love appears on the cover of Tapestry in the Renaissance, which the Metropolitan Museum published in 2002. The image is a detail of the tapestry The Killing of the Wild Boar (Month of December) from the series of tapestries entitled the Hunts of Maximilian, which are in the collection of the Louvre Museum in Paris. The scene shows Ferdinand, future emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, on horseback preparing to slay a large boar with his sword. The details woven into the tapestry are exquisite, including the ivy climbing up the tree trunk and the gold thread woven into the brocade of the emperor's clothing. The collar of the hunting dog that has been killed by the boar even has the emblem of the royal house woven into it! Its combination of color, the scale of the design, and subject matter evoke the excitement of the hunt.
The Killing of the Wild Boar (Month of December) tapestry from a twelve-piece set of the Hunts of Maximilian. Tapestry designed by Bernard van Orley, ca. 1528–1531. Woven in the Dermoyen workshop, ca. 1531–1533. Wool, silk, and silver- and gilt-metal-wrapped thread, 14 ft. 5 1/4 in. x 19 ft. 10 1/4 in. (440 x 605 cm). Département des Objets d'Art, Musée du Louvre, Paris (OA 7323). Photograph by Bruce White
The other detail I'd have to choose as a favorite is one I took for the book Tapestry in the Baroque, from the tapestry The Creation of the Horse. The tapestry was designed in the seventeenth century by Jacob Jordaens, and is in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The detail shows a mythological group of Tritons, Nereids, and a dolphin, as well as a section of the decorative border of the tapestry. The dramatic poses of the figures and the designer's use of shading and light creates an outstanding sense of depth. There's a Caravaggio-like quality to the scene.
The Creation of the Horse from an eight-piece set of Horsemanship. Design by Jacob Jordaens, ca. 1633–1635. Woven by Everaert Leyniers III, Brussels, ca. 1665–1666. Wool, silk, and silver and gilt-metal wrapped thread; 13 ft. 5 3/8 in. x 17 ft. 1 1/8 in. (410 x 521 cm). Kunstkammer, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (T XL I). Photograph by Bruce White
Sarah Mallory: Your images of both of those tapestries, as well as all of the Pieter Coecke van Aelst tapestries in Grand Design, are breathtaking. They assure us that if all we glimpse of a tapestry is but the smallest detail, we will have seen the distillation of the grandest of designs.
Related Link
Met Publications—Grand Design: Pieter Coecke van Aelst and Renaissance Tapestry