DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62931#0102
FLORENTINE VELVETS
and radiating Eastern floral forms, they eliminated the significant
birds, animals, and inscriptions, which had so long remained a
feature of the Mohammedan patterning.
A few examples of early Florentine patterned fabrics are extant,
corresponding in type to the inlaid marble pavements of S. Miniato
and the Baptistry at Florence, which date from the I 2th century.
The symmetrical inflorescence (figs. 32-33), known as the arti-
choke, is the chief ornamental feature found in the fabrics of Florence.
This beautiful and distinctive Eastern form was in India, Persia,
and Sicily, doubtless chosen for its significance as a symbol of life
and fruitfulness, but in Italy it was probably selected chiefly for its
ornamental or decorative value. The beauty of its details, the
growth, symmetry, and radiation of parts, and the boldness of its
mass, rendered it singularly appropriate to the process of velvet
weaving.
The example on plate 38 is a fine representative Florentine
velvet, distinctive alike in pattern and weaving; the bold sweep of
the constructive lines and the beautiful radiating flower within a
pointed cusp or leaf form, woven in ruby or blue terry and velvet
on a rich yellow or cloth of gold ground, are characteristic features
of the early Florentine velvets, many of which are of considerable
size, the repeat of the pattern frequently being 22 X 48 inches.
Many of those sumptuous velvets were used for backgrounds or
as cloths of estate, and as such are frequently represented in the
early Italian and Flemish pictures, but their chief use was probably
for the rich and costly vestments of the Church.
Many of the more sumptuous Florentine velvets are now in the
magnificent textile collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum ;
probably the finest and most comprehensive collection of medieval
fabrics in the world.
The four illustrations on plate 40 are representative of the
various modifications of the Inflorescent or Artichoke pattern, found
upon the fabrics of the 16th century. They are admirable in drawing,
and distribution of pattern, and although distinctly Italian in type,
are yet reminiscent of Eastern fabrics, especially No. 1, in which the
small floral details upon the ogival constructive lines are distinctly
Persian in character.
Variants of the pointed and leaf-shaped cusps that surround the
radiating flowers are frequent; in some, the cusp is connected with
the structural lines of the pattern, in others they are detached and
just surround the flower. Plate 39 is a typical example of a rich
cusp, forming a part of the constructive lines of the pattern.
Quite a number of these characteristic and interesting patterns
60
and radiating Eastern floral forms, they eliminated the significant
birds, animals, and inscriptions, which had so long remained a
feature of the Mohammedan patterning.
A few examples of early Florentine patterned fabrics are extant,
corresponding in type to the inlaid marble pavements of S. Miniato
and the Baptistry at Florence, which date from the I 2th century.
The symmetrical inflorescence (figs. 32-33), known as the arti-
choke, is the chief ornamental feature found in the fabrics of Florence.
This beautiful and distinctive Eastern form was in India, Persia,
and Sicily, doubtless chosen for its significance as a symbol of life
and fruitfulness, but in Italy it was probably selected chiefly for its
ornamental or decorative value. The beauty of its details, the
growth, symmetry, and radiation of parts, and the boldness of its
mass, rendered it singularly appropriate to the process of velvet
weaving.
The example on plate 38 is a fine representative Florentine
velvet, distinctive alike in pattern and weaving; the bold sweep of
the constructive lines and the beautiful radiating flower within a
pointed cusp or leaf form, woven in ruby or blue terry and velvet
on a rich yellow or cloth of gold ground, are characteristic features
of the early Florentine velvets, many of which are of considerable
size, the repeat of the pattern frequently being 22 X 48 inches.
Many of those sumptuous velvets were used for backgrounds or
as cloths of estate, and as such are frequently represented in the
early Italian and Flemish pictures, but their chief use was probably
for the rich and costly vestments of the Church.
Many of the more sumptuous Florentine velvets are now in the
magnificent textile collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum ;
probably the finest and most comprehensive collection of medieval
fabrics in the world.
The four illustrations on plate 40 are representative of the
various modifications of the Inflorescent or Artichoke pattern, found
upon the fabrics of the 16th century. They are admirable in drawing,
and distribution of pattern, and although distinctly Italian in type,
are yet reminiscent of Eastern fabrics, especially No. 1, in which the
small floral details upon the ogival constructive lines are distinctly
Persian in character.
Variants of the pointed and leaf-shaped cusps that surround the
radiating flowers are frequent; in some, the cusp is connected with
the structural lines of the pattern, in others they are detached and
just surround the flower. Plate 39 is a typical example of a rich
cusp, forming a part of the constructive lines of the pattern.
Quite a number of these characteristic and interesting patterns
60