Five years ago the Metropolitan Museum mounted an extraordinary exhibit of Renaissance tapestries, and they've followed up with a new exhibit entitled Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor (described online here ). Deirdre and I saw the exhibit this morning. The exhibit covers the period from 1590 to 1720 with about 40 tapestries — some of them over 20 feet wide that sprawl across the walls of the museum in breathtaking detailed panoramas. Tapestry is mostly associated with the Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands), but wars and other events caused the technique and artists to bounce from country to country. Whole rooms in the exhibits are devoted to tapestries of France, Germany, Italy, and even England (James I was a fan). Most of the tapestries feature biblical or mythological scenes and were designed for large courts or palaces, but the exhibit also includes more tranquil scenes on a papal cope, a table carpet, and a bedcover. Here's an early 17th-century tapestry Read More...