124 DERBYSHIRE TAPESTRY. 



No words can describe the marvellous beauty of this tapestry ; 

 the delicate and exquisite treatment of the woof; the subtle 

 shading of the limbs of the little people ; the beautiful proportion 

 of their parts, and the quaint glimmerings of the inner passions 

 of the soul, as if seeking, but half afraid to express themselves. 

 It is this feature which assigns the cartoons to the middle period 

 between the passionless delineations of the middle ages, and the 

 struggling of the renaissance school to live with the living, and 

 throw off the winding sheet of the past. 



These hangings were executed at Mortlake,* and were, doubt- 

 less, among the very choicest productions of Sir Francis Crane's 

 establishment. It may be that the shuttles were plied by some 

 of those master hands introduced from the continent, mentioned 

 on p. 92, the founders of the Mortlake school. 



The closet in this room contains a hanging, with the royal 

 arms surrounded by the garter, forming an oval capped by a 

 helmet, bearing a crowned lion for the crest. The whole device 

 is repeated on a ground of small verdures. 



Dorothy Vernon's Room 

 contains six pieces. 



I. — An old worn hanging, probably made about 1530, exhibi- 

 ting contests between men and beasts. In the centre is a 

 fight with bears, one of which, having embraced and lifted 

 his opponent, is being attacked behind by a man with a 

 double-headed spear. The whole piece is full of anima- 

 tion. The border is a combination of animals, fish, 

 fruit, and flowers, with much yellow and brown in the 

 treatment. 



2. — A Hunting Scene, cut in two, and a rough, incongruous 

 piece of work, representing a man in armour, inserted. 



Various animals of the chase introduced. Back ground 

 elevated, leaving but little room for the sky. 



* The Mortlake shield KJ [^ (ar^eitl a cross gti/es) was discovered on 

 one of them when taken C] 1/ down in 1S93. 



