Piece
Unknown Artist
16th century
Medium
Silk
Dimensions
L. 15 3/4 x W. 10 3/4 inches (40.0 x 27.3 cm)
Classification
Textiles-Woven
Culture
Spanish
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
36.90.389b
Art Historical Context
This exquisite silk textile fragment, titled simply *Piece*, hails from 16th-century Spain and measures a modest 15¾ x 10¾ inches (40 x 27.3 cm). Woven with masterful precision, it exemplifies the opulence of Renaissance-era decorative arts, where textiles served as symbols of wealth and status among European nobility and clergy. As a product of Spanish craftsmanship, it reflects the era's vibrant textile industry, bolstered by Spain's global and access to fine silks via trade routes from Asia and the New World. Silk weaving during this period demanded extraordinary skill, with looms producin...