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Fragment, probably from a Chasuble
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Fragment, probably from a Chasuble

1400s · Silk with cut and voided velvet

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.

About this work

Luxurious velvet fabrics were woven in several different grades based on the quality and quantity of the raw materials. Those with extensive gold thread and plush silk pile were the most luxurious. This green velvet is of a lower grade. The popular 15th-century pattern of five-lobed palmettes displaying pomegranates or blossoms is arranged in staggered rows. Velvet pile was omitted in areas to create the pattern, known as "voided" velvet. Since projecting pile required quantities of silk thread, voided velvet was less expensive to manufacture than solid-pile velvet or brocaded velvet.

Cleveland Museum of Art’s own description
Credit lineFragment, probably from a Chasuble, 1400s. Italy. Silk with cut and voided velvet; overall: 66 x 29.9 cm (26 x 11 3/4 in.); mounted: 76.2 x 40.6 cm (30 x 16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1918.232

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