Vanity Italian Tapestry

Vanity is an Italian jacquard wall tapestry. This artwork comes from a painting of the same name completed in 1907 by Frank Cadogan Cowper. The subject matter and composition of Vanity are derived from Italian Renaissance painting. Cowper has bedecked his youthful beauty with jewels and given her a hand-mirror to signify vanity. Cowper was an English painter and illustrator of portraits, historical and literary scenes, described as The last of the Pre-Raphaelites. Decorative and richly colored, Vanity suggests the romance of the past and alludes to notions of chivalric and courtly love. The detailing of the luxurious fabrics relates to a renewed interest in the applied arts and crafts, which emerged late 19th century British art.