Piece

Art Historical Context

This exquisite woven textile panel, titled simply *Piece*, hails from Italy around 1720, a time when opulent decorative arts flourished amid the grandeur of the Baroque era's twilight. Crafted by an unknown artist using luxurious silk and metal threads—likely gold or silver for a shimmering effect—it measures an impressive 51 × 40 inches, with a loom width of just 20½ inches, suggesting it was meticulously pieced together from narrower strips, a common technique for large-scale works in the period. Now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Department...