Strip
Unknown Artist
16th century
Medium
Cutwork
Dimensions
L. 14 1/2 x W. 7 inches 36.8 x 17.8 cm
Classification
Textiles-Laces
Culture
Italian
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number
20.186.20
Art Historical Context
This exquisite 16th-century Italian strip, crafted in the delicate technique of cutwork, exemplifies the Renaissance mastery of textiles as both art and luxury. Measuring just 14½ by 7 inches, this narrow band was likely designed as an edging for collars, cuffs, or ecclesiastical vestments, showcasing the era's obsession with intricate ornamentation. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of European Sculpture and Decor Arts, it entered the collection via the Rogers Fund in 1920, preserving a fragment of Italy's renowned lacemaking heritage. Cutwork, or *punto tagliato*, involv...