Chasuble

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This Italian-woven silk exemplifies the conspicuous adaptation of a foreign design in a European-made fabric. The colorful stylized tulips and carnations arranged in rows of alternating diagonals imitate the more elegantly stylized floral silks and velvets of Safavid Iran. The design is augmented by the use of a number of colors of silk thread, arranged in no obvious pattern, for the flowers—a characteristic Safavid weaving technique intended to make a small repeat pattern appear more complex. The coat of arms embroidered on the cope links it to the Gradenigo family of Venice.

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