Polychrome velvet with a variation on a Medici emblem

Polychrome velvet with a variation on a Medici emblem

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Woven and embroidered textiles commissioned by noble families were among the most expensive expressions of wealth and power during the Renaissance. The production of luxurious silks was tightly regulated in order to ensure quality, and the movements of weavers were sometimes restricted to prevent the loss of technical and artistic advantages to rival city-states such as Venice, Milan, and Genoa. This stylized floral velvet is woven with a variation on a motif found in the Medici family coat of arms: the seven balls called palle (here, in the center of the largest flower). The placement of the red velvet circles on a background of golden thread draws attention to this feature. The original use of these fragments is not known; they might have been part of a liturgical vestment or a secular fragment.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Polychrome velvet with a variation on a Medici emblemPolychrome velvet with a variation on a Medici emblemPolychrome velvet with a variation on a Medici emblemPolychrome velvet with a variation on a Medici emblemPolychrome velvet with a variation on a Medici emblem

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.