# Large Leaf Verdure with Animals and Birds

- By: Southern Netherlands, possibly Bruges, 1525/50
- Date: 1525-1550
- Medium: Wool; slit, single dovetailed, and double interlocking tapestry weave Warp: Count: 4 warps per cm; wool: S-ply of two Z-spun elements; diameters: 1.0–1.5 mm Weft: Count: varies from 15 to 36 wefts per cm; wool: S-ply of two Z-spun…
- Classification: Textile
- Dimensions: 599.2 × 336.4 cm (235 7/8 × 132 3/8 in.)
- Culture: Belgium
- Credit line: Gift of the Antiquarian Society of the Art Institute of Chicago through the Jessie Landon Fund
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/18166)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/adf4bbb7-abe8-63bc-0852-c86647378643/full/843,/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This visually rich tapestry is filled by large leaves, vividly colored flowers, and winding shoots, a style known as large leaf verdure. Numerous real and fantastic animals—including falcons, griffins, lions, monkeys, peacocks, and pheasants—fly, hide, and perch amidst the greenery of the purely imagined plants. Only a handful of tapestries with the same animals and composition are known, though the same large leaf motif was used for the background of several tapestries depicting religious scenes, as well as in other tapestries to represent what was thought to be a realistic jungle background. It is thus impossible to determine whether this hanging and its companion pieces served a symbolic or decorative function—although these purposes are clearly not mutually exclusive.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0