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Source Description
Many identifiable flowering plants provide the French name, millefleur, for this pattern, which became fashionable around 1450. Each plant may have symbolized either religion, courtship, or morals. However, many millefleur tapestries, made for about 100 years, were probably not symbolic. Large quantities were woven only with flowers; some also incorporated birds and animals or, in this case, coats of arms. Here, the original coat of arms has been replaced by that of the Medicis, a prominent family in Renaissance Florence.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
122570
label
Millefleurs Tapestry with Medici Coat of Arms
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
122570
contentType
object
title
Millefleurs Tapestry with Medici Coat of Arms
description
Many identifiable flowering plants provide the French name, millefleur, for this pattern, which became fashionable around 1450. Each plant may have symbolized either religion, courtship, or morals. However, many millefleur tapestries, made for about 100 years, were probably not symbolic. Large quantities were woven only with flowers; some also incorporated birds and animals or, in this case, coats of arms. Here, the original coat of arms has been replaced by that of the Medicis, a prominent family in Renaissance Florence.
date
1520s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80018932
genreSpecific
Tapestry
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 274.2 x 652.8 cm (107 15/16 x 257 in.)
cul
Netherlands, Hainault, early 16th century
accession
1942.824
Source extras
tec
tapestry weave: wool and silk
tombstone
Millefleurs Tapestry with Medici Coat of Arms, 1520s. Netherlands, Hainault, early 16th century. Tapestry weave: wool and silk; overall: 274.2 x 652.8 cm (107 15/16 x 257 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of John L. Severance, 1942.824
collection
Textiles
citations
citation
<em>Catalogue of the John L. Severance Collection: Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 59, cat. no. 120
citation
Milliken, William M. "Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 29, no. 9 (1942): 131.
page_number
p. 149
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25141015
citation
Standen, Edith A. "The Carpet of Arms." <em>The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin</em> 20, no. 7 (1962): 221-31.
page_number
p. 227
url
doi:10.2307/3257912
citation
Asselberghs, Jeen Paul. <em>Les tapisseries flamandes aux États-Unis d'Amérique</em>. Bruxelles: Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, 1974.
page_number
p. 21
citation
Hattori, Teruko 服部照子. <em>Yōroppa no seikatsu bijutsu to fukushoku bunka. I, I </em>[ヨーロッパの生活美術と服飾文化. I, ゴシックタピスリーと服飾]. Tokyo: Genryūsha, 1986.
page_number
p. 71, no. 65
citation
Peri, Paolo and Nello Forti Grazzini. <em>The "Millefiori" Tapestry of Pistoia. </em>Pistoia: Gli ori, 2016.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 82; Mentioned: p.83
creditline
Bequest of John L. Severance
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:18:47.436000
sourceId
122570
dept
Textiles
coll
Textiles
med
tapestry weave: wool and silk
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
4ce1f0fcc74ef8e2