"Renaissance Splendor" by Elizabeth Cleland

Renaissance Splendor Catherine de’ Medici’s Valois Tapestries Elizabeth Cleland, Marjorie E. Wieseman, Francesca de Luca, Alessandra Griffo, Costanza Perrone Da Zara, Claudia Beyer

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Format:: Hardback
Publication date:: 12 Feb 2019
ISBN:: 9780300237061
Imprint:: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Dimensions:: 96 pages: 273 x 302mm
Illustrations:: 131 color illus.

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Featuring detailed scenes of court pageantry and life-size portraits of members of the French Valois dynasty woven in wool, silk, and precious metal-wrapped threads, the Valois Tapestries are one of the most extravagant sets of hangings produced in the 16th century. The precise circumstances surrounding the tapestries’ commission and their arrival at the Medici court in Florence, as well as the significance of the specific scenes depicted, however, have eluded scholars for years. Presenting new research into the political maneuvering of the Valois and Medici courts and providing extensive physical analysis gathered during a recent cleaning of the tapestries, this volume offers brand new insight into why these magnificent works were made and what they represent.

Elizabeth Cleland is associate curator of European sculpture and decorative arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Marjorie E. Wieseman is Paul J. and Edith Ingalls Vignos Jr. Curator of European Paintings and Sculpture, 1500–1800 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Francesca de Luca is coordinator of the Valois Tapestries conservation project at the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence. Alessandra Griffo is curator of 18th-century painting and sculpture at the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence. Costanza Perrone Da Zara and Claudia Beyer are conservators at Restauro Tessile de Beyer e Perrone Da Zara, Florence.