Museum number
F230.1 AND 2
Object
Embroidery: the Death of Jezebel, English, silk on canvas, about 1640
Description
The panel illustrates the Old Testament story of jezebel (II Kings, Chapter 9, vs. 30-37). On his triumphal entry in to the city of Jezreel, Jehu, King of Israel, seen here in his chariot, orders Jezebel, widow of the evil King Ahab to be killed. Her body was thrown from the tower window and dovoured by dogs, as Elijah had prophesied. Jezebel can be seen at the top right hand corner of the panel being thrown from the tower and Jehu, in his chariot, waits to ride over her body. The scene is set in a landscape which includes a windmill, a shepherd tending his flock, a vineyard and numerous animals and plants. The source for this composition is an engraving in a Bible illustrated by Jost Amman, first published in 1560 and republished in the 1580s. The embroidery is worked entirely in tent-stitch with silk thread on a even-weave linen fabric. Some small satin stitches (also in silk thread) accentuate the studs in the wheels of Jehu's chariot.
Materials
canvaswork
On display?
No

Further description

Simple name
Embroidery
Dimensions
framed: 57.3000cm (h) x 57.3000cm (w)
The Death of Jezebel English Silk on canvas, about 1640 F230 Gift of Miss Mildred Alice Carr, 1961 Embroidered in fine tent stitch on canvas, this panel uses a different technique from the others in the collection. The grisly Old Testament subject is also unusual. The king Jehu enters the city of Jezreel and witnesses the death of the evil queen Jezebel. Jezebel is shown twice, first being pushed from a window by her own courtiers and later dismembered on the ground and eaten by dogs. The Holburne Museum has a remarkable collection of embroidered pictures. Most were made by young, highly skilled amateur needlewomen in wealthy households although a few may be the work of professional embroiderers, who were usually men. Many of the embroideries incorporate raised work (or stumpwork), the technique of embroidering over padding in high relief. Their enduring appeal comes from the combination of exceptional craftsmanship with the naive charm of designs which often include outsized animals, birds and insects.

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