Starting on the 17th of October the MET in New York will be hosting an exhibition dedicated to the art of European tapestries in the 17th century, under the title "Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor", the event being the first comprehensive presentation of this chapter of the history of tapestries ever shown in the USA. Starting in the Middel Ages and ending with the late 18th century, tapestries were present in every European court or important home, being at the same time an art product, a sign of richness and dignity and a tool of propaganda. The masters of the trade were highly regarded and literally swarmed with commisions.
Reuniting tapestries from more than 15 countries, the curators have chosen a number of 40 very rare tapestries, made in 1590 - 1720 in Europe, being commisions from kings, popes, nobles, aristocrats, real textile frescoes of great beauty and finesse. The pieces have been chosen according to their subjects and status, being an impressive show for the eyes of the visitors, which will surely be enchanted by the brilliant display of shapes and colours. Other than just presenting some of the best works of that time, the show aims at examining the development in style and fashion of the tapestries in the 17th century. Artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Simon Vouet, Charles LeBrun, Pietro da Cortona or Giovanni Romanelli had treated this difficult medium in their own manner. To complete the image, the exhibition includes around 25 designs and oil sketches, to further explain how the masters came to the final draft.
The show is divided into nine distinct sections, presenting the development of the most important European centers, starting with the 1580's and ending with around 1720. Besides presenting the evolution of the tapestry centers, with the slow decline of the Flemish ones and the appearance of the French - mostly Parisian - masters, the exhibition also shows which were the most popular themes and styles (religious and mytological compositions were most frequent), who were the most popular and wanted artists and how the fashion changed for this genre.
2007-08-06
