A story reveals able French artisans who contributed with their mastery to create a legend, and uncovers painters destined to remain anonymous, but who wrote themselves into history through their work known all the world over.
The center of our story is in a small city in central France, Aubusson, in the Limousin region on the Creuse river. Famous already in the 16th century for the tapestries created there, Aubusson was part of the royal manufacturing places in France, and still today is a place where the textile industry flourishes.
From the looms of Aubusson emerged tapestries that were among the most marvelous in all of Europe from the 16th to the 18th centuries. They were one-of-a-kind pieces that can be admired in international museums, or in public or private collections. UNESCO even has entered them into the list of “Immaterial Cultural Patrimony of Humanity.”
For the last few years, though, the work of collectors has begun to look not only at the textiles, themselves, but also at the preparatory drawings based on which the tapestries were produced. The “cartons de tapisserie” were painted in oils and tempera on paper or cloth by the artists in the Aubusson manufacturing studios, either on commission or for direct sales, and were used as models by the weavers.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Conference (in Italian): “The hidden paintings of the Aubusson tapestries – works of art as work instruments”
Coordinated by Valerie Giurietto Robert
Appointment: 5:45 P.M., Bagatti Valsecchi Museum
Entrance fee: free for Friends of the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum association and for its volunteers; for non-members: E. 6,00
For more information and/or to join the Friends of the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum:
T + 39 02 7600 6132
amici@museobagattivalsecchi.org
