Cleveland Museum of Art

Velvet panel with four youths smelling flowers

Date

1625–50

Medium

Silk: velvet, brocaded, and pile-warp substitution; gilt- and silver-metal thread

Culture

Iran, Isfahan or Yazd, Safavid period (1501-1722)

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

A new style depicting single figures with limited modeling and European artistic influence was spearheaded by the Iranian painter Riza ‘Abbasi and adopted by textile designers in sumptuous brocaded velvets. Even with faded colors, this grand length retains ten colors of velvet pile, a feat that Iranian velvet weavers achieved by skillfully replacing colored pile warp during weaving, and thereby creating the most colorful velvets in the world. Elegant youths dominate the simplified outdoor setting here with diminutive cypresses and silver ponds on a ground originally covered with gold thread. Fashionably dressed young men wear wide-brimmed hats, silver robes, stole-like scarves, and knotted sashes that are symbols of status and rank.

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