Silk Velvet with Gold in Pomegranate Pattern (1450–1500): Art, History and Details

Silk Velvet with Gold in Pomegranate Pattern (1450–1500) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Luxurious silk velvets with expensive gold thread were symbols of wealth and power. The finest velvets during the 1400s have two, or even three, heights of lush projecting pile. This fashionably large pomegranate pattern features exorbitant gold-thread loops enriching the lower level and a plain higher level. The curved upper and lower contours suggest this was the back of a sleeveless ecclesiastical vestment known as a chasuble. The striped green and ivory selvage was the equivalent of a label, required by law. It identified the fiber content, its quality, and quantity, which determined the price. Selling prices reflected the costs of the raw materials—gold thread, silk, and dyestuffs. Compensation for artisans was generally minimal.

Object facts

• Title: Silk Velvet with Gold in Pomegranate Pattern
• Date: 1450–1500
• Culture: Italy, possibly Florence, 15th century
• Type: Velvet
• Technique: silk, gold thread; velvet: cut pile in two heights, uncut pile loops, gold-thread loops
• Dimensions: Overall: 118.7 x 60.6 cm (46 3/4 x 23 7/8 in.); Mounted: 130.8 x 71.1 cm (51 1/2 x 28 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1940.596

Collection credit

Bequest of James Parmelee

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lisby, Darnell-Jamal, William Griswold, Matteo Augello, Alessandra Arezzi Boza, Massimiliano Capella, Luke Meagher, Stefania Ricci, and Cleveland Museum of Art. Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2025.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.