Lorraine Karafel - MAP FORUM

Описание: MAP FORUM - 5 October 2021

Tapestries for a Medici Pope: Raphael’s Grotesques of Leo X

About 1515, Pope Leo X, the first Medici pope, commissioned the artist Raphael to design a set of tapestries: the famous, 10-piece Acts of the Apostles. Woven in Brussels of wool, silk, and metal-wrapped wrapped, these spectacular textiles are still housed at the Vatican. Raphael also designed several other sets of sumptuous tapestries for Leo, including, about 1516, the 8-piece Grotesques of Leo X, executed in an innovative antique style. Now known only from later reweavings, these complex designs integrate classical themes with Christian ones to deliver a calculated message celebrating Leo’s papal reign, as will be explored in this talk.

Lorraine Karafel is Associate Professor of Art and Design History at Parson School of Design in New York. Her research focuses on art and design in Europe in the Early Modern Period, with a special interest in tapestries, on which she has published and lectured widely. Dr. Karafel’s book, Raphael’s Tapestries: The Grotesques of Leo X appeared with Yale University Press in 2016. Tapestries in the Burrell Collection, co-authored with Elizabeth Cleland, was published in 2017 (IB Tauris/Philip Wilson). Dr. Karafel’s new book project takes a fresh look at European tapestry from the perspectives of design, production, re-production, and display.