Altar frontal
1700-1710
Not on view
- From the Exotic to the Mystical: May 4, 2013 - August 4, 2013: Between 1690 and 1720 Europe embraced a fanciful fashion—“bizarre” silk, characterized by unconventional, abstract designs that combined Asian-influenced patterns with the European courtly taste for sumptuous silk weaving. The most whimsical designs had no particular antecedent; the influx of Asian artifacts broadly inspired Europeans to abandon symmetry in favor of increasingly ornate, florid, and playful schemes. These silks were often used for fashionable furnishings or dress and later donated to the church for ecclesiastical garments and articles.
- Title
- Altar frontal
- Date
- 1700-1710
- Object Type
- Furnishing textile
- Medium
- Silk and metallic thread; damask, with supplementary-weft patterning in twill weave
- Dimensions
- 59 1/4 x 42 in., (150.5 x 106.7 cm,)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase, Textile Arts Council Endowment Fund in honor of Diane B. Mott
- Accession Number
- 2011.15
