Art Institute of Chicago

The Massacre at Jerusalem from The Story of Titus and Vespasian

After a design by Charles Poerson (1609–1667)

Date

1650/75

Medium

Wool and silk; slit, dovetailed, and double interlocking tapestry weave Warp: Count: 9 warps per cm; wool: S-ply of four Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.7–0.8 mm Weft: Count: varies from 20 to 38 wefts per cm; wool: S-ply of two Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.5–1.0 mm; silk: pairs and three yarns of S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; diameters: 0.6–1.0 mm; wool and silk: paired yarns of S-ply of two Z-spun wool elements and S-ply of two Z-twisted silk elements; diameters: 0.8–1.0 mm

Culture

Brussels

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This tapestry belongs to the eight-piece Story of Titus and Vespasian suite designed by Charles Poerson, who practiced the French academic-decorative manner that supplanted the dramatic and monumental Flemish High Baroque. Poerson clearly based the series on book two of Tacitus’s The Jewish War (c. A.D. 75–79). Both Vespasian and his son Titus led the Roman troops during the First Jewish-Roman War (A.D. 66–73), a major rebellion by the Jews of Judaea against the Roman Empire. This tapestry depicts the massacre that took place at Jerusalem six months after the initial siege. The Arabian and Syrian soldiers who were part of Titus’s army slaughtered the Jews who were attempting to flee, cutting open their victims’ bellies to get the gold coins some of them had swallowed before surrendering to the Romans. Titus can by seen on horseback, in the background on the right, rushing to stop the carnage.

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