The Triumph of Christ ("The Mazarin Tapestry")

Netherlandish 16th Century

National Gallery of Art

This horizontal tapestry is divided into three vertical sections by architectural columns and arches. The center column is a little wider than those to either side, but all three sections are packed with people, all with ivory-white skin. In the center column, a crowned Jesus is seated on a throne at the top center. His elaborately patterned robe falls in folds down past his feet. He hovers above a landscape view, which is flanked in the foreground by groups of men and women. About a dozen people are clustered on each side, many of them looking up at Jesus, and most of them wearing religious garments that range from monks and nuns to cardinals and bishops. Two crowned men kneel to our right in the center panel, their hands pressed together in prayer. Each column on either side of the central panel is divided so there is a smaller vignette above taller vignettes below. Large groups of people gather in each scene. Much of the tapestry’s surface is now brown, but it is punctuated throughout with patches of rust red, sky blue, and pale yellow.