The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of February 23, 2026
Four-color Velvet with Medici Armorial in Rosettes
1450–1500
Overall: 211.5 x 40 cm (83 1/4 x 15 3/4 in.); Mounted: 222.3 x 49.5 x 7.6 cm (87 1/2 x 19 1/2 x 3 in.)
Location: Not on view
Description
This polychrome velvet displays the heraldic design of the Medici family of Florence, where it was probably made. The device of crimson balls on a yellow ground appears in the centers of the colorful rosettes. Gilt-metal thread forms the heraldic ground in more lavish examples. The striped selvage helps identify the late 15th-century dating. The rosette pattern created with four colors of pile warp is silhouetted on the ivory satin weave foundation, known as voided velvet. Its color scheme and tile-like design have often been associated with influence from Islamic lands, most likely Turkey.- (French and Co.)
- Weibel, Adèle Coulin. Two Thousand Years of Textiles; The Figured Textiles of Europe and the Near East. New York: Published for the Detroit Institute of Arts [by] Pantheon Books, 1952. p. 124, cat. no. 146
- Renaissance Textiles (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 14, 2012-December 10, 2013).The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).2000 Years of Silk Weaving. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 18-April 16, 1944).
- {{cite web|title=Four-color Velvet with Medici Armorial in Rosettes|url=false|author=|year=1450–1500|access-date=23 February 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1943.67