Justice circa 1630

Description

This small tent stitched picture probably began its life as a bookbinding. It depicts the allegorical figure of Justice with her scales, in an idealized landscape. Tent stitch worked in silk or wool threads on linen canvas, was probably the most common embroidery technique used in the early seventeenth century. It resulted in a durable, long-wearing object, was easy to execute, and fine enough to produce delicately shaded designs that resembled the rarer and more expensive woven tapestries.