City Life Museum Lecture: Research Project on Rare Tapestries

The joint project “Global and Local: Tallinn’s Priceless Early Modern Tapestries” by the University of Tartu, the Estonian Academy of Arts and Tallinn City Museum is studying rare 16th-century tapestries held at Tallinn City Museum over the course of a year. The project and its findings will be presented in a series of lectures during the autumn 2026 season at Tallinn City Life Museum, Vene Street 17. Lectures take place once a month on Tuesdays at 17:30 in the museum’s education room.

24 November — Riina Rammo

Material research on historic textiles: the case of Tallinn’s tapestries

The 16th-century tapestries held at the museum can be studied from a range of perspectives. Art historians examine what is depicted on the tapestries: why these particular motifs were chosen, where the models came from, and what they tell us about the maker, commissioner and audience. Historic objects can also be examined in depth in terms of their physical nature—the materials and techniques used. Various modern methods can, for example, reveal which textile fibres were used and what the metal threads are made of. The findings help us understand the skill and resources invested in making the tapestries, as well as distinguish later additions from the original work. The lecture will outline the weaving techniques used, the results of microscopic fibre studies and compositional analysis, and how these confirm earlier hypotheses and shed new light on the artworks’ long histories.

PROJECT INTRODUCTION

The project “Global and Local: Tallinn’s Priceless Early Modern Tapestries” brings together the expertise of art historians, historians, scientists, collection managers and conservators. It focuses on tapestries depicting King Solomon and plant motifs, commissioned by the Tallinn town council, and the altar frontal, or antependium, of St Olaf’s Church, commissioned by alderman Lutke van Oyten. The works were made in the 16th century in tapestry workshops in Enghien and Brussels in the Low Countries, where Europe’s most prominent dynasties also commissioned tapestries. These rare tapestries were among the most valuable art commissions even when they were first made.

“It is remarkable that objects so old, so finely crafted and so valuable in terms of their materials have survived in Tallinn,” says the project lead, Kerttu Palginõmm, a researcher in textile history at the Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu.

The interdisciplinary research project aims to preserve, conserve and enable the future display of this unique European cultural heritage.

Contact: pia.ehasalu@linnamuuseum.ee; tel. +372 56479459

Image: Antependium of St Olaf’s Church, mid-16th century, TLM 8494