Cranach cloth of gold in black, 1.5m

Product description

The pattern you see on this historical reproduction arose through a unique process of reconstruction. You may have noticed that Renaissance paintings seldom depict large, uninterrupted swaths of fabric. The observer may get a glimpse of a pattern on the sleeves of a garment or in a gown where the fabric tends to be gathered in dramatic folds or otherwise arranged so that the full pattern is never really visible in full. We have undertaken a painstaking study of individual examples of cloth of gold in the works of the Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach the Elder. The result is a unique reconstruction that combines recurring elements of the textiles depicted into a harmonious whole. The dominant floral motifs of foliage and flowers bear a stylization typical for the 16th century. The pattern is arranged in pointed ovals joined by floral bouquets.

Source material for our reconstruction comes from several works by Lucas Cranach the Elder including his Portrait of a Saxon noblewoman as Mary Magdalen at the Wallraf-Richartz museum in Cologne, Germany, and his Portrait of Duchess Catherine of Mecklenburg which is part of the Dresden State Art Collection.

Cloth of gold was a medieval luxury fabric containing a large amount of metallic thread. This cloth of gold is a Jacquard weave of pure silk with lurex. The high proportion of lurex threads makes cloth of gold sturdy and heavy, but the fabric remains soft to the touch and breathable. Reproductions of period textiles such as this are perfect for sewing historical costumes and also bring something special to modern interiors or contemporary fashions.

We recommend lining this fabric with a natural material such as silk or fine linen.

This pattern reconstruction is the intellectual property of SARTOR BOHEMIA.

Care

We recommend dry cleaning this fabric at a reliable dry cleaner. In our tests this fabric stood up to gentle hand washing. If you risk hand washing, use lukewarm water and a delicate detergent for woolens; do not wring or squeeze dry; block dry on a flat surface. Dry iron on the back on the lowest setting.