Chasuble

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Animal patterns in European velvets were rare during this period, which suggests that the unusual design of this polychrome silk velvet was a special commission and may depict the device of a particular family or individual. The unidentified birds facing each other (perhaps swans or herons) are skillfully detailed by fine lines of contrasting color. The silk pile of this chasuble is composed of fours colors: two shades of green, punctuated with a deep vivid pink and off-white. The white is almost completely gone—probably due to the corrosive effects of the bleaching process necessary to achieve this color.

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