(C) Renée Graef, Getty Publications, 2016
When Thérèse's father returns home with a painting for her, she gets an idea to create a gift for him, a tapestry that looks like his painting. Papa will be leaving again, only this time when he returns, he will have King Louis XIV with him! Thérèse hopes to have Papa's gift woven by then! Even though girls like her at the Gobelins Manufactory were not trained as weavers, she is determined to make her gift as beautiful as Papa's painting.
Thérèse's family and friends help her along the way. The dye-makers allow her to collect colorful leftover yarns. Her older brother, Henri, creates a copy or outline of Papa's painting that she will place behind the loom's frame for patterning. Her mother helps, too. But it would be Thérèse's hands that would warp the loom, trace the pattern of Papa's painting on threads, and organize her yarns by color. She would weave Papa's gift all by herself! And soon, after hours of tireless work behind her, it is finished!
"Pleased with her plan, Thérèse went to bed. She dreamed that she wove a palace out of gold yarn for her whole family to live in."
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But when Papa returns home with King Louis XIV, what has become of her gift? Thérèse runs into the courtyard to find out. Sure enough, there is her tapestry, and there is Papa and the king staring at it! Her brother Mathieu had placed her tapestry with all the others that the king was to inspect for use in his palace.
Thérèse holds her breath as the king stared. What would the king think of her work? What would he say if he found out a girl had woven it? What would Papa say? And would Papa ever know that this tapestry was her gift to him? Readers will just have to get a copy of Thérèse Makes a Tapestry to find out.
Thérèse Makes a Tapestry weaves art-history as colorfully as the one that inspired its writing--the tapestry that hangs in the J. Paul Getty Museum today. This well-researched picture-book is gorgeously illustrated by Renée Graef, and is beautifully written by Alexandra S. D. Hinrichs. The yarn is so expertly woven that readers will be surprised to discover that the young, female heroine, Thérèse, is fictional. But the journey back to where Thérèse lives and works with her family of weavers--the bustling Gobelins Manufactory of 7th Century Paris--is so real that readers will nonetheless feel transported through time. Elementary-school art teachers everywhere should own a copy of Thérèse Makes a Tapestry for their classroom libraries, for this story is sure to inspire many of today's young artists.
Discover more about the making of this book HERE.
Thérèse holds her breath as the king stared. What would the king think of her work? What would he say if he found out a girl had woven it? What would Papa say? And would Papa ever know that this tapestry was her gift to him? Readers will just have to get a copy of Thérèse Makes a Tapestry to find out.
Thérèse Makes a Tapestry weaves art-history as colorfully as the one that inspired its writing--the tapestry that hangs in the J. Paul Getty Museum today. This well-researched picture-book is gorgeously illustrated by Renée Graef, and is beautifully written by Alexandra S. D. Hinrichs. The yarn is so expertly woven that readers will be surprised to discover that the young, female heroine, Thérèse, is fictional. But the journey back to where Thérèse lives and works with her family of weavers--the bustling Gobelins Manufactory of 7th Century Paris--is so real that readers will nonetheless feel transported through time. Elementary-school art teachers everywhere should own a copy of Thérèse Makes a Tapestry for their classroom libraries, for this story is sure to inspire many of today's young artists.
Discover more about the making of this book HERE.
THERESE MAKES A TAPESTRY is a picture-book for ages 6 and up. It is published by The J. Paul Getty Museum of Los Angeles, an imprint of Getty Publications. It is written by Alexandra S. D. Hinrichs and is illustrated by Renée Graef.
Illustrations are used with permission from the publisher and are subject to copyright.
(C) Renée Graef, Getty Publications, 2016
Illustrations are used with permission from the publisher and are subject to copyright.
(C) Renée Graef, Getty Publications, 2016
