My Story: Gertrude’s Last Judgment

“And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun”.

 Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

Nothing had been easy; nothing at all, Gertrude thought while quietly observing her old jewelry box. Those necklaces, medallions and chains that were resting on the red, silken, worn-out lining of the casket reminded her of every single achievement she had made in life. Thanks to the magnificent ability of her hands, she had gone from sitting next to the last of the apprentices of her father’s embroidery workroom to marrying François Spierinx, the owner of the biggest tapestry factory in Delft.

Gertrude liked to check on her jewels once in a while. In fact, at those times one could not trust the servants; moreover, holding such precious objects in her hands made her feel like sustaining the threads of her own life. There it was, her fine golden chain with its tiny ivory cross. It was the first reward she had ever obtained, a gift from the prior of the old monastery of St. Agnes.

̔Girl, even an angel’s hand would not have been able to equal the perfection of your needlework’, the priest had said to her while placing the gift in her hand.

But the geometrical motifs of those ecclesiastic clothes she had embroidered with silk —using chain stitch and buttonhole— that had made such a good impression on the priest of the monastery were a piece of cake in comparison to what would come later.

That would not be given to her for free either. The shine of those splendorous jewels could by no means erase the years full of poverty that Gertrude had spent in London. Her father had sent her to the house of a well-known craftsman so that she could learn the difficult technique of goldwork, the so-called or nué embroidery. It was there that she spent the first years of her youth, hungry and dressed in rags, covering panel after panel with silken and golden threads.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it”.

 Mathew 13, 45-46

When Gertrude’s fingers caressed the amber drop necklace that Karel van Manden had given to her, her breast trembled and her eyes filled with tears. Fleeting images of the most intense moments of her life with the painter crossed her mind in a few seconds. At that time, her father had sent Gertrude to Rome in order to practise the Burgundian technique of needle painting. The famous painter Antonio del Pollaiuolo had opened his own school in the Eternal City; the school was specialized in creating scenes to be depicted by needlewomen. Gertrude met Karel, a very attractive Dutch painter from Haarlem, on that design workroom. Even if at first their mutual approach was due to the fact that they were compatriots and colleagues, little by little they realized that their relationship wasn’t just related to threads, needles and decorative motifs. In a beautiful summer afternoon on the banks of the Tiber, when the sun was embroidering the tapestry of the city with golden yarns, Karel placed an amber drop necklace around Gertrude’s neck.

̔Gertrude, in the same way that an insect gets trapped in a drop of amber, I will always be stuck in the deepest part of your heart’.

And he had been right; when she went back to Delft, although her excellent skills as a needlewoman had made her famous, Gertrude was not happy, for her heart and mind rested in Rome, tangled up in Karel van Maden’s threads. However, her life was about to change radically when the son of the Lord of Antwerp, François Spierinx, commissioned her to embroider a cloak with a white openwork, following the Italian technique of reticello.

François was so amazed at the exquisiteness of her embroidery that he had wanted to meet the author of such a work of art; the moment he saw Gertrude, he decided that he would make her his wife sooner or later. Each time she observed her mother-of-pearl necklace, she remembered the excited face of her father when he walked into the room.

 ̔Gertrude, I have wonderful news for you’, he said while giving her the necklace-case.  ̔François Spierinx has asked you in marriage’.

“And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and on the earth, fear among the nations and doubt because of the loud noise of the sea and the waves; Men’s strength will go from them in fear and in waiting for the things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of the heavens will be moved. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory. But when these things come about, let your heads be lifted up, because your salvation is near”.

 Luke, 25-33

Once François Spierinx had established his business in Delft, a great number of needlemen and tapestry men came from the South to work at his factory located in the old monastery of St. Agnes, close to East Gate. Gertrude’s husband succeeded in attracting the best Dutch painters to his factory, and among them was Karel van Manden. The hot ashes of the passion Gertrude and him had experienced in Rome soon became burning flames again. The lovers started to meet in secret, taking advantage of the numerous business trips of François; but the situation did not please Karel at all, as he could not stand the idea of sharing Gertrude with another man.

̔Gertrude, I have decided to leave your husband’s factory to start a business on my own. I’m going to create a workroom in the monastery of St. Anne. Will you come with me?’

And there stood Gertrude, in her room, not knowing what to do. She was weighing in a balance the pros and cons of the decision she was going to take. Abandoning François for Karel meant the end of her marriage, and committing adultery. It felt like choosing between a comfortable bourgeois life and the evil of lust. Once again, she looked at the painting of the Last Judgment hanging from the wall of her room. Christ was sitting on a cloud, judging the living and the dead. To his right were the just, ready to enter the kingdom of Heaven, and to his left, the damned souls, falling into the eternal flames.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Gertrude quickly put all her jewels inside the casket, covered herself in the blue cloth lying on the table, and rushed out to the street.

Advertisement