Valance

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The scenes illustrate the biblical account of King Ahasuerus and Queen Vashti as told in the Book of Esther. Ahasuerus commanded Vashti to show her beauty to those gathered at a feast. She refused and was banished. Although this story was rarely depicted, that of Esther, Vashti's successor, was a particularly popular subject in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century embroideries. Intended for a bed, this valance was most likely part of a set showing scenes from the story of Esther. The contrasting examples of a willful and a virtuous wife lead one to conjecture that the set was a wedding gift.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art