Panel of velvet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

During the early fifteenth century, European velvet design was largely characterized by the use of voided patterns formed where the pile was absent. In the second half of the century, technical innovations led to the production of increasingly complex velvets in which the richness of design and texture were achieved through the use of different heights of cut pile and of supplementary metal threads. In this example, the broad meandering vine and the stylized foliage are woven in metal-wrapped thread with some details in raised loops to give even greater tactile effect.

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