Altar Frontal with the Lamentation (c. 1474): Art, History and Details

Altar Frontal with the Lamentation (c. 1474) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Cosimo Tura (Italian, c. 1430–1495); Rubinetto de Francia (Italian, active 1457–1483).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A decorative textile suspended along the altar’s entire front, an altar frontal was often embellished with gold and silver threads, as seen here. This rare example depicts the lamentation of Christ, a common subject in Christian art in which the body of Christ is mourned after its removal from the cross. This version is highly acclaimed for its emotional intensity. Christ’s body is arranged in the shape of the cross, his shoulder rests on the Virgin’s knees, Saint John the Evangelist cradles his left arm, and Mary Magdalene supports his feet. Joseph of Arimathea carries the three nails with which Christ was crucified. This altar cloth was designed by Cosimo Tura who was employed at the court of Ercole I d’Este, duke of Ferrara, as a painter, illuminator, and tapestry designer between 1475 and 1484. His design was woven by Rubinetto di Francia, who was head of a large tapestry workshop at Ercole’s court. The subject of the design would imply its use during the Easter season.

Object facts

• Title: Altar Frontal with the Lamentation
• Date: c. 1474
• Creator attribution: Cosimo Tura (Italian, c. 1430–1495); Rubinetto de Francia (Italian, active 1457–1483)
• Culture: Italy, Ferrara
• Type: Tapestry
• Technique: Wool, silk, gold and silver threads
• Dimensions: Overall: 104.2 x 199.4 cm (41 x 78 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1950.145

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Heinemann, Rudolf J., and Adolf Feulner. Stiftung Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz. Lugano-Castagnola: Stiftung Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz, 1937.
• Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme, and Charles Crehore Cunningham. 2000 Years of Tapestry Weaving: A Loan Exhibition : Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Dec. 7, 1951 to Jan. 27, 1952 ; the Baltimore Museum of Art, Feb. 27, 1952 to Mar. 25, 1952. Hartford, CT: Wardsworth Atheneum], 1951.
• Shepherd, Dorothy G. ""The Lamentation," a Tapestry Antependium Designed by Cosimo Tura." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 38, no. 2 (February 1951): 40–42, 28–29.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.