Sickness Spears the Stag and Death Sounds His Horn (from The Hunt of the Frail Stag)
Unknown Artist
ca. 1495–1510
Medium
Wool warp, wool and silk wefts
Dimensions
Overall: 36 3/8 x 35in. (92.4 x 88.9cm) Framed: 39 5/8 x 40 x 2 in. (100.6 x 101.6 x 5.1 cm)
Classification
Textiles-Tapestries
Culture
South Netherlandish
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Adele L. Lehman, in memory of Arthur Lehman, 1965
Accession Number
65.181.21
Tags
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 ...