Century-old tapestry dedicated at YSU

A century-old tapestry gifted to Youngstown State University by the estate of former faculty member David S. Ives and his wife, Helga, will be formally dedicated this week at an invitation-only event on campus.

The large tapestry, influenced by the work of Italian artist Lorenzo Delleani, is dated to around 1900 and is now displayed in first-floor lounge of DeBartolo Hall, home of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

“The Ives’ legacy at Youngstown State University lives on through this beautiful artwork that now graces our campus,” said Kristine Blair, CLASS dean.

David Ives was a lieutenant colonel with the Army Air Forces, chiefly as an intelligence officer, before retiring from the Air Force Reserves in 1969. During World War II, he met Helga de Agostini, who was born on the Italian Istrian Peninsula. They were married in Italy before returning to the United States. David and Helga resided in Youngstown, where David accepted a position as associate professor of Classical Studies at Youngstown College. He worked at YSU for 31 years, retiring in 1984. He died in 1991. Mrs. Ives died in 2015.

In June 2016, the Ives’ estate donated $1 million to YSU to expand two existing scholarships, create a new scholarship and establish the David and Helga Ives Distinguished Visiting Humanities Scholar in CLASS.  The gift also provided funding to the endowment for the YSU English Festival; nearly 5,000 books, including a couple rare books that will be restored, and more than 1,400 record albums of classical music to YSU’s Maag Library; military memorabilia to the YSU Veterans Resource Center; memorabilia about YSU and the Ives to University Archives; and the tapestry.

The tapestry is after artwork by Delleani, born in 1840 in Pollone in northern Italy. Delleani’s international success stemmed from his presentation of some 40 works at the Venice Biennale in 1905 and participation in the International Exhibition in Munich of the same year. He died in 1908.