Jesse tapestry

CASE STUDY 3 WOOL FIBRES AND THE TREE OF JESSE TAPESTRY... 

Figure 22 The Tree of Jesse Tapestry (Photo Mike Halliwell)...

As the formation of disulfide bridges between proximate cysteine residues plays a particularly important role in physical properties of wool, any reagents or conditions that interfere with these bonds will have a significant effect on the fibres. A particular and related problem associated with the deterioration of wool fibres is the release of volatile sulfur compounds, which may then attack adjacent materials many of the silver-containing metal threads found on the Tree of Jesse tapestry show signs of surface corrosion, in the form of silver sulfide. 

We began this chapter by suggesting that a conservation scientist would need a thorough appreciation of the underlying science to best advise on the longterm preservation of historic artefacts like the Victory sail, Shackleton s ensign and the Jesse tapestry. In the associated investigation carried out to support... 

The Tree of Jesse (Figure 22) is a 15th century Rhenish ecclesiastical tapestry, comprising two parts, an altar frontal and a smaller superfrontal it currently belongs to the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. 

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