awing and
so exquisite in colour and weave. It is suggested that Quentin
Matsys is responsible for the drawing, and it is known that only
Bruges or Brussels could produce such perfection of textile. Indeed,
Jean de Rome is by some authorities spoken of as Jean de Brussels, for
it is there that he worked long and well, assisting to produce those
wonders of textile art that have never been surpassed, not even by the
Gobelins factory in the Seventeenth Century. The tapestry in the
Metropolitan Museum is now the property of J. Pierpont Morgan, Esq.,
but began life as the treasure of the King and Queen of Spain who, at
the time when Brussels was producing its best, were sitting firmly on
a throne but just wrested from the Saracenic occupancy. Spain, while
unable to establish famous and enduring tapestry factories of her own,
yet was known always as a lavish buyer. Later, Cardinal Mazarin, with
his trained Italian eye, detected at once the value of the tapestry
and became possessed of it, counting it among his best treasures of
art. It is a woven representation of the triptych, so favourite in the
time of the Van Eycks, and is almost as rich with gold as those
ancient altar decorations. The tapestry is variously called _The
Kingdom of Heaven_, and _The Adoration of the Eternal Father_ and is
the most beautiful and important of its kind in America. Fortunate
they who can go to the museum to see it--only less fortunate than
those who can go to see it many times.

In the private collection of Martin A. Ryerson, Esq., of Chicago, are
three examples of great perfection. They belonged to the celebrated
art collection of Baron Spitzer, which fact, apart from their beauty,
gives them renown. The first of these (plate facing page 60) is an
appearance of Christ to the Magdalen after the Entombment, and is
Flemish work of late in the Fifteenth Century. It is woven in silk and
gold with infinite skill. With exquisite patience the weaver has
brought out the crowded detail in the distance; indeed, it is this
background, stretching away to the far sky, past the Tomb, beyond
towns and plains of fruited trees to yet more cities set on a hill,
that constitutes the greatest charm of the picture, and which must
have brought hours of happy toil to the inspired weaver.

The second tapestry of Mr. Ryerson's three pieces is also Flemish of
the late Fifteenth Century. (Plate facing page 61.) This small group
of the Holy Family shows at its best the