Fifth and Sixth Articles of the Apostles Creed

Artists

Description

This tapestry is a fragment (right side) of the second tapestry in a series depicting the Apostles Creed. The series shows events from the life of Christ in combination with portrayals of the Prophets and the Apostles. On the left is the apostle Thomas whose banderole displays the fifth article of the Creed: Desce[n]dit ad inferna tertia die resurrexit (He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.) This text is illustrated by two scenes: The Resurrection in the upper left corner and the appearance of the Resurrected Christ to his mother in the bottom center. The central scene is flanked on the right by the Prophet Amos and the Apostle James the Less. Amos holds a banderole which reads: "Ipse est [qui] edificat ascensionem suam incelo" ("It is he that buildeth his Ascension in Heaven." Amos 9:6). The Apostle James holds a banderole which records the sixth article of the Creed: ascendit ad caeolos. Sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis (He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father). This article is visualized in two scenes. The Ascension of Christ appears in the center of the upper tier of the composition, placed directly above the pavilion containing the scene of Christ appearing to his mother. In the upper right corner, we see Christ enthroned as part of the Trinity. The Trinity is surrounded by Justice and music-making angels at the top and the apostles at the bottom. This scene is framed by a border of stylized clouds that highlights the division between the earthly and heavenly realm.

Dimensions

317.5 x 335.5 cm (125 x 132 1/16 in.)

Provenance

Castle of Evora, Portugal; M. Fernand Schutz (Paris); Georges J. Demotte (Paris), sale 1924; P.W. French and Company (New York); Mrs. Felix M. Warburg, Gift to the Fogg Art Museum, 1941.