fabric

Alesso Baldovinetti’s ‘Madonna and Child’ (c. 1464) is rich in symbolism. The infant Christ holds his swaddling band up to the Virgin’s womb, as if it were a token of the umbilical cord that united them. The winding shape of the bandage is echoed in the distant meandering river. The Madonna’s gossamer veil falls over her head as a pyx-cloth might cover a sacramental vessel.The child touches another translucent veil, draped over the cushion beside him. Towering above him, his Mother joins her hands in devotion, as if to acknowledge her Son’s meaningful gestures

Unfolding mysteries: the drama of drapery in Italian art

Ariane Bankes 10 November 2018 9:00 am

The striking yet subtle jacket image from Donatello’s ‘Madonna of the Clouds’ announces this book’s quality from the outset. Its…

Cartoon for St Luke, Chichester Cathedral Tapestry, 1965, by John Piper

Close encounters

Laura Freeman 21 May 2016 9:00 am

A story John Piper liked to tell — and the one most told about him — is of a morning…

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