Of lectures, and other things

[ellid]

I gave my little presentation at UMass, and it went quite well. I spoke in a conversational Italian class on my trip to Italy, why I went, and what I learned, and I think I opened a few people's eyes to medieval patchwork. I even got them to laugh when I mentioned "il grosso gatto di Palazzo Pitti," and how he tried to join the Triple Felinoid. Very satisfying, and lots of fun.

I also found another gorgeous image showing a patchwork cloth of honor, Daddi's Annunciation. For some reason almost all of the paintings depicting these show them in combinations of red, green, orange, and white. I wonder if they all came from a workshop where the artisans had a few bolts of cloth they had to get rid of????

*flees*

Comments

[joyeuse60.livejournal.com]

Just curious here and so.................. When you are looking at paintings such as the Annunication , how do you tell whether you are looking at a patchwork piece or a piece woven in that particular pattern/ design. I don't posses to any real knowledge of patchwork and so when I look at these I can't tell the difference

[ellid.livejournal.com]

It doesn't look like any European woven textile that I'm aware of from that time period. Cloths of honor, such as are seen behind the Virgin in Annunciations and Maestas, are always the best, most expensive and beautiful textiles available since nothing less would serve for the Queen of Heaven. Most are Turkish brocades and cut velvets...and then there are these few pieced works.

As for how I know it's patchwork and not something else - good question. At least part of it is that I've been looking at patchworks for so many years that I'm sensitive to the difference between patchwork and woven textiles; some pieces that look like patchwork at first glance simply don't look right when closely examined.

Also, there are a precious few patchwork textiles existing from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. One of them is, you guessed it, a cloth of honor used to hang behind a throne in 14th century Hungary. It was found in Budapest a few years ago and is now on display. There's also the Impruneta cushion, and a couple of references to "payned quilts" in various color combinations in Henry VIII's inventories.

So it's partly existing pieces, partly knowledge of patchwork, and partly what Bernard Berenson called "the connoisseur's eye." Basically, you look at a certain type of thing long enough and you'll know it anywhere...:)

[helwen.livejournal.com]

No blue? I was wondering if the little diamonds might be blue. That would be some typical color combos, at least around Firenze. Orange/blue and red (or pink)/green -- complimentary colors. With white for space/contrast. I should take a poke through my book on an exhibit from Firenze that was at the Met back in '95. You know the one -- I showed you some of the capitals in it, with the quilt patterns in the capitals.

You could maybe check for what the heraldic colors were in that area -- for the nobles, or maybe for the city. Just a couple of thoughts, since the flag for Italy is red, white, and green...

Or as you say, maybe it was what they had in stock :D