Panel with grotesques, from a set of bed hangings
ca. 1550–60
Medium
Silk, wool, silver and silver-gilt thread (20-22 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)
Dimensions
65 1/2 × 83 3/4 in. (166.4 × 212.7 cm)
Classification
Textiles-Tapestries
Culture
Netherlandish, Brussels
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of George Blumenthal, 1941
Accession Number
41.100.384
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite panel, designed by Netherlandish artist Cornelis Floris II around 1550–60, hails from a luxurious set of bed hangings in Brussels, a renowned center for production during the Renaissance. Floris, a pioneering Mannerist architect and engraver, drew inspiration from ancient Roman grotesquesfantastical motifs of intertwined figures, flora, and fauna rediscovered in the era's excavations. Here, whimsical birds, sheep, men,, and abundant fruit cavort in a playful, asymmetrical arabesque, embodying the period's delight in elaborate ornamentation for elite interiors. Woven with fine s...