item details
Overview
Embroidery "The Meeting of Dante and Beatrice" 1911 by Lady Jane Cory (1866-1947)
"The Meeting of Dante and Beatrice" was embroidered in 1911 by Lady Cory (nee Lethbridge) who was born in Taunton, Somerset in 1866. The embroidery depicts a scene described by the Italian poet Dante in his book "La Vita Nuova/The New Life" where he first catches sight of Beatrice and feels that his heart might stop beating.
Lady Cory died in 1947 without issue, bequeathing most of her estate to major English museums including the Victoria Albert in London. The National Museum accepted this and eight other large-scale embroideries when they were turned down by the Victoria and Albert. The works arrived in Wellington in 1948 and now form part of Te Papa's collection.
Design
Although she embroidered this picture, Lady Cory did not create the design. "The Meeting of Dante and Beatrice" was originally painted in 1883 by English artist, Henry Holiday and acquired the following year by the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. This painting was an immediate success and was reproduced extensively. See the painting at this link: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/collections/19c/holiday.aspx
It is likely that Lady Cory worked her embroidery from a good reproduction of the work or possibly a cartoon (design) made by the Royal School of Art Needlework when the work was lent for an exhibition in London in 1905.
Materials and Technique
"The Meeting of Dante and Beatrice" is embroidered in woollen worsted threads on a linen ground. Jane Cory would have probably used a large freestanding tapestry frame the width of the work, which had a device for rolling the embroidery as it was worked. An embroidery of this size would have taken several months to complete.
Significance
This and the other eight embroideries by Lady Jane Cory constitute a nationally significant body of work, the Arts Crafts style embroideries being particular important examples of this popular late 19th century English style.