The griccia, the cammino, the velvets (15th century) — Textiles — Applied Arts

The griccia The cammino The velvets

The research and competition brought about by the rise of numerous textile centres led the textile art of this century, which may be considered the golden age of fabric, to a great richness and perfection of means. Stylistically, production attains a spontaneous originality of its own, thanks also to the interest of the greatest artists in the minor arts, and the composition of the decoration shows greater balance and a notable symmetry.

THE GRICCIA

Period

From the first quarter of the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century.

Description

Succession of plant motifs such as the pine cone, trunk, pomegranate, thistle or lotus flower, in a vertically developing composition with a sinuous, writhing movement.

Technique

Pile-on-pile velvet brocaded in spun or bouclé (allucciolato) gold or silver, with grounds in gros, satin or gold teletta

Origin

In the alternation of proposals and in the evolution of textile techniques, the naturalism of fourteenth-century fabrics, characterised by thematic fancy and a plurality of colours, gives way to a rigorously unified elaboration in terms of chromatic values, technical and compositional ones. The fabric no longer looks like an illuminated page but like a bas-relief.

THE CAMMINO

Period

From the first quarter of the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century.

Description

Succession of plant motifs such as the pine cone, trunk, pomegranate, thistle or lotus flower, in a horizontally developing, rectilinear composition.

Technique

Pile-on-pile velvet brocaded in spun or bouclé (allucciolato) gold or silver, with grounds in gros, satin or gold teletta.

Origin

In the alternation of proposals and in the evolution of textile techniques, the naturalism of fourteenth-century fabrics, characterised by thematic fancy and a plurality of colours, gives way to a rigorously unified elaboration in terms of chromatic values, technical and compositional ones.

GRILLE VELVETS

Period

From the middle of the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century.

Description

Large multi-lobed leaves, tangent to one another, enclose pomegranate or thistle flowers, in turn surrounded by small flowers equal in number to the lobes.

Technique

Cut velvet, mainly on a satin ground, in which the outlines of the design are defined by the appearance of the ground, free of velvet pile.

Origin

It is found in the search for greater simplicity and clarity of decoration, achieved in a finer design such as the Gothic arch in architecture and wrought ironwork might suggest; hence the name of grille velvets.