Panel of velvet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sumptuous velvets were among the most highly prized luxury fabrics of the Renaissance. Woven in both Spain and the Italian peninsula, they were exported throughout Europe and became as essential component of the visual "magnificence" with which the ruling elite demonstrated their wealth and power. Contemporary paintings, tapestries and documents demonstrate the varied uses of such velvets–this panel was once part of an ecclesiastical vestment. The silk velvet pile was most commonly dyed red, but blue and green examples also appeared in significant numbers.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art