Tag: Venetian embroidery


  • Goldwork Tutorial: an ornate border from 15th century Venice

    In the past two weeks, we have explored the early 15th-century goldwork embroidery from Venice, Italy. One of its characteristics is the ornate orphrey borders with the twisted columns. I’ve always been curious how they were made! So out came the cotton padding threads and the gold threads for a goldwork tutorial. This kind of…

  • Venetian Embroidery: more “measles” from medieval Venice

    From last week’s blog post, you might have gotten the idea that Venetian goldwork embroideries from the early 15th century are somewhat plentiful. They are not. However, another magnificent piece of Venetian embroidery was exhibited at Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento, Northern Italy. Some parts are remarkably modern in their appearance. Parts of the design could…

  • Venetian Embroidery: cope fragments of Pope Gregory XII

    In September 2019, I visited the exquisite exhibition “Fili d’oro e dipinti di seta” in the Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento, Northern Italy. Together with the 2015 exhibition in the Catharijneconvent and the 2016 Opus Anglicanum exhibition in the V&A, this was one of those ‘must-see’ exhibitions. This one visit provided me with research material for several…