Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples
Original title: Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples from a set of The Passion
kurzbeschreibung
Unlike typical Passion scenes, this tapestry fragment from around 1595 places the foot washing at its core: Christ kneels before a disciple and performs the humble act. It belongs to a cycle on the Passion of Christ, woven with great skill in wool, silk and metal thread. The subject follows the familiar iconography of the foot washing from the Gospel of John.
Description
In the foreground a figure in blue kneels and washes the feet of a seated man in red. Around them other disciples are gathered, some in gold and blue, others more plainly dressed. Columns and arches frame the interior where the action takes place. The warm reds, golds and blues gain intensity from the weave; the layout is symmetrically focused on the event in front. A Latin text band closes the scene at the top.
Context
This tapestry comes from a larger textile cycle of scenes from the Passion of Christ, likely made for a church or aristocratic patron. Its dating to around 1595 falls in an era when tapestries were status symbols in Europe and often took up biblical subjects. The inclusion of metal thread points to the piece's high value and representational purpose. Dürer, known as a painter and printmaker, provided religious designs; specialised workshops, however, carried them into textile art.
Impact
The clear, symmetrical arrangement draws the eye straight to the central act. Warm tones and the glint of metal thread create a solemn, devotional mood. Through its textile execution the image gains a physicality and depth that make the event immediate and tangible.
Technique
Wool, silk, and metal thread allow for nuanced color gradations and highlights, while the density of 20 warp threads per inch (8 per cm) enables fine, detailed rendering. The imagery was likely produced on a high-warp loom, with the pictorial patterns created by combining threads in different bindings. This technique gives the scene its warm, luminous tonality and visible surface texture.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)