The Art of Tapestry
How ephemeral the differences between major arts and minor arts, between pure arts and applied arts are, and how unwarranted any form of discrimination in the world of artistic creation is, is clearly shown by the history of the European tapestry factories.
Extremely precious and expensive fabrics, tapestries have always been produced in workshops tied to Italian or European courts, and there are some prestigious manufacturing centres which have made some northern towns, Brussels in particular, famous. There, in the second decade of the 16th century, the famous series of the Acts of the Apostles by Pieter van Aelst was woven; they were based on cartoons by Raphael and commissioned by Pope Leo X. Vasari wrote: “it is a surprising work and it is amazing to think how they could create such hair and beards and make the complexions soft only by weaving.”
Exactly to weave tapestries as splendid as those, able to compete for supremacy with the Flemish masters, did, in 1545, Grand duke Cosimo I de’ Medici decide to set up in Florence a manufacture centre tied to the court, which, in the 16th century, would become the most prestigious in Italy. Bronzino, Pontormo, Bachiacca, Salviati, Stradano, Alessandro Allori were some of the artists asked to create models which cartoonists and tapestry-weavers transformed into marvellous series of hangings for the Palazzo della Signoria and the Medici villas and palaces. Do Florentines know about this incredible treasure kept in their museums and palaces? Do they know about this supremacy? And do they know that in Florence there still are skilful hands able to weave new precious fabrics and to restore what has been handed down to us?
This issue offers some cues on both aspects and suggests visits to exhibitions and museums which we think we know but which, once again, may give us the emotion of new and great discoveries.
by Elisabetta Nardinocchi,
Director of the Horne Museo
