From the Vault: Collecting Tapestries at the Worcester Art Museum

Tapestries: intricately designed, meticulously crafted, and often staggering in size. Delve into the history of tapestries as an art form, the methods by which they were created, the fascinating stories that brought them to the Worcester Art Museum, and their important role as a source of artistic creativity and innovation across disparate cultures and time periods. From the Vault features nearly 30 works—including 12 large-format tapestries—rarely on view due to their sensitivity to light, as well as tapestry fragments spanning Antiquity to the present day.

Among the works on view is the massive, remarkably detailed 16th-century Flemish Last Judgment tapestry. One of the most significant Renaissance tapestries in America, it measures over 12 feet tall and more than 26 feet wide and will be on view for the first time in nearly a decade. Another highlight, Jean Lurçat’s Harvest Time (1937), marks a revival of tapestries as a medium for modern expression through its bold forms and vivid colors. This exhibition also marks the museum debut of dream disk (2024), a new acquisition by LA-based artist Diedrick Brackens (b. 1989), who is known for his intricate textile art that explores themes of identity, race, and queerness through the narratives he weaves.

This exhibition is curated by Delaney Keenan, Assistant Curator of European Art, in collaboration with Claire C. Whitner, the Museum’s Director of Curatorial Affairs and James A. Welu Curator of European Art.