Piece
Unknown Artist
16th–17th century
Medium
Silk
Dimensions
L. 5 3/8 x W. 4 1/8 inches (13.7 x 10.5 cm)
Classification
Textiles-Velvets
Culture
Italian
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of The United Piece Dye Works, 1936
Accession Number
36.90.371
Art Historical Context
This exquisite fragment, titled simply *Piece*, hails from 16th–17th Italy, a golden age for European textile artistry. Crafted from luxurious silk velvet, it measures just 5⅜ x 4⅛ inches (13.7 x 10.5 cm), likely a surviving remnant of a larger cloth used for opulent garments, ecclesiastical vestments, or lavish furnishings. Italian silk production, centered in cities like Venice and Florence, was renowned across Europe for its technical mastery and sumptuous quality, symbolizing wealth and status during the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Velvet weaving, as seen here, involves creatin...