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Source Description

Pierre Sala, who likely commissioned the set, is portrayed as the richly attired central figure offering a bouquet, a symbol of knowledge, to Éléonore, his daughter. Éléonore is pregnant, revealed by her upturned skirt and the persimmon in her husband Hector’s hand. Hector’s mother, Marguerite, in dark attire, will wed the widowed Sala in 1519. They appear in front of the royal chateau of Blois. The figures at the right convey Sala’s advice to his children. Time (the old man with the staff) with Clio, the Muse of History, standing on his shoulders, is being attacked by a Herculean youth wielding a stick. With this allegory, Sala is explaining that youth is ignorant of the complexities of life and time. The small unicorn at the far right represents the soul. The verse in Old French at the top refers to changing time: <em>One sees Time adorned with green foliage, Sometimes as pleasant as an angel, Then suddenly change and become quite strange. Never does Time persist in one state.</em>

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
136291
label
Time (from Chateau de Chaumont set)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
136291
contentType
object
title
Time (from Chateau de Chaumont set)
description
Pierre Sala, who likely commissioned the set, is portrayed as the richly attired central figure offering a bouquet, a symbol of knowledge, to Éléonore, his daughter. Éléonore is pregnant, revealed by her upturned skirt and the persimmon in her husband Hector’s hand. Hector’s mother, Marguerite, in dark attire, will wed the widowed Sala in 1519. They appear in front of the royal chateau of Blois. The figures at the right convey Sala’s advice to his children. Time (the old man with the staff) with Clio, the Muse of History, standing on his shoulders, is being attacked by a Herculean youth wielding a stick. With this allegory, Sala is explaining that youth is ignorant of the complexities of life and time. The small unicorn at the far right represents the soul. The verse in Old French at the top refers to changing time: <em>One sees Time adorned with green foliage, Sometimes as pleasant as an angel, Then suddenly change and become quite strange. Never does Time persist in one state.</em>
date
1512–15
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60756419
genreSpecific
Tapestry
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 326.6 x 434.1 cm (128 9/16 x 170 7/8 in.)
cul
France, Lyon(?), early 16th century
accession
1960.176.3
Source extras
tec
silk and wool; tapestry weave
tombstone
Time (from Chateau de Chaumont set), 1512–15. France, Lyon(?), early 16th century. Silk and wool; tapestry weave; overall: 326.6 x 434.1 cm (128 9/16 x 170 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 1960.176.3
collection
Textiles
inscriptions
inscription
French verse in Gothic letters translates as follows: "One sees the weather adorned in green, Sometimes as pleasing as an angel; To suddenly change and be quite strange, The weather never stays the same."
sortorder
1
formerAccessionNumbers
1960.178
citations
citation
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "Three Tapestries from Chaumont." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 48, no. 7 (September 1961): 159–177
page_number
pp. 159-177
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25142461
citation
Saisselin, Remy G. "Literary Background of the Chaumont Tapestries." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 48, no. 7 (September 1961).
page_number
pp. 178–181
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25142462
citation
Wixom, William D., and Leona E. Prasse. "Traditions in the Chaumont Tapestries." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 48, no. 7 (September 1961): 182–190.
page_number
pp. 182–190
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25142463
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 75
citation
Wixom, William D. <em>Treasures from Medieval France.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 340
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 75
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 85
citation
Seaton, Douglass. <em>Ideas and Styles in the Western Musical Tradition</em>. Mountain View, Calif: Mayfield Pub. Co, 1991.
citation
Mackie, Louise W. "Woven Treasures." <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 52, no. 6 (November/December 2012): 12.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 12
citation
Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. <em>The Middle Ages in 50 Objects</em>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 154–157; Reproduced: p. 155
citation
Vignon, Charlotte, and Ian Wardropper. <em>Duveen Brothers and the Market for Decorative Arts, 1880-1940</em>. New York: The Frick Collection in association with D Giles Limited, London, 2019.
page_number
Mentioned & reproduced: pp. 218, fig. 78 - 219
creditline
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
galleryDonorText
The Honey and Leighton Rosenthal Family Gallery
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:57:27.146000
sourceId
136291
dept
Textiles
coll
Textiles
med
silk and wool; tapestry weave
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
b42838ef707c4a5f