Needlework and Moral Instruction in English Seventeenth-Century Households: the Case of Rebecca

Abstract

In the seventeenth-century household, in which biblically themed decor was fashionable, many needlework projects included images of female biblical characters. Rebecca was among the most frequently embroidered. In both Protestant and Catholic traditions, Rebecca’s story, recorded in Genesis 24, was perceived as especially pertinent to the household. Depictions of her story appeared in the sixteenth-century picture Bibles which were dedicated to, and circulated among, Protestant and Catholic audiences in parts of western and central Europe. Rebecca also featured in Erhard Schön’s didactic illustrated woodcut,Zwölf Frawen des Alten Testaments(c.1530). Not all biblical stories involving female figures were included in these illustrated works, so the inclusion of her story suggests that Rebecca was perceived as a proper model for young women. Moreover, the absence of Rebecca from the large-scale tapestries which throughout the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries commonly depicted biblical scenes provides an important contrast to the popularity of her story in smaller-scale domestic needlework projects.