Revealing, Reversible and Resplendent:
15th-17th-Century Italian and Spanish Textiles
Location: Nelson-Atkins Building, Gallery P6
A single thread can make a stitch. Multiple threads can be woven together to create cloth, but imagine threads fashioned into elaborate embroidery, gilded three-dimensional images, brilliantly-hued reversible fabrics, and even textiles purposely cut in a pattern that revealed glimpses of one's undergarments below—a style fashionable during the 17th century. This exhibition showcases silk and linen fragments spanning the 15th-17th centuries, a period of expanded exploration and trade, when Italy and Spain emerged as major centers of textile production. During this era, textiles with three-dimensional effects became popular within the Christian church and the secular world.
