Velvet panel with four youths smelling flowers
Unknown Artist
1625–50
Medium
Silk: velvet, brocaded, and pile-warp substitution; gilt- and silver-metal thread
Dimensions
157.5 × 72.7 cm · mounted: 167.6 × 83.2 cm
Classification
Velvet
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1932.42
About this artwork
A new style depicting single figures with limited modeling and European artistic influence was spearheaded by the Iranian painter Riza ‘Abbasi and adopted by textile designers in sumptuous brocaded velvets. Even with faded colors, this grand length retains ten colors of velvet pile, a feat that Iranian velvet weavers achieved by skillfully replacing colored pile warp during weaving, and thereby creating the most colorful velvets in the world. Elegant youths dominate the simplified outdoor settin...