Introduction to tapestries
Tapestry is an ancient technique of weaving. The pattern is woven in blocks of coloured weft thread which are then beaten down very tightly on the warp threads, producing a…
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The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries
These four 15th-century tapestries with hunting scenes came to the V&A from the estate of The Dukes of Devonshire. They probably belonged to the celebrated Countess of Shre…
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A Wissa Wassef Tapestry
A Wissa Wassef tapestry. Given to the V&A in 2008, 'Ali Salim's piece offers a unique contemporary counterpoint to the Museum's important and extensive collection of Ancien…
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Cosimo I de' Medici: Renaissance patron
Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519–74) was Duke of Florence between 1537 and his death. The de’ Medicis were renowned for their patronage of the arts, and Cosimo I continued this tr…
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The Boar and Bear Hunt tapestry
This tapestry is one of a group of four, known as the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries, made in the southern Netherlands in around 1425–30. All four tapestries depict hunting …
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Raphael: Cartoons and Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel

In September 2010, the V&A will show four of the ten tapestries Raphael designed for the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. These remarkable works ar…
Buy nowEvent - Art and Design at the Stuart Court
Fri 07 June 2013 11:00

SHORT COURSE: Discover how under the Stuart kings art and design took a dramatic turn away from the isolation of the Tudors to embrace the art of Italy and the rest of Europe.
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