Silk was one of the great social signifiers of the later Middle Ages, and it is represented in a profusion of paintings from the period, demonstrating the opulence of the patron's own dress. This large book, illustrated throughout with such paintings and with surviving silks, takes a multifaceted lo[...]
Silk velvet was first woven in Europe during the second half of the thirteenth century, but it reached a peak of perfection during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The V&A holds one of the finest collections of Renaissance velvets, including a wide selection of fragments, a papal carpet, a six[...]