Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Luxury Cloth: Cushion Cover
Not on view
This work, acquired by Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague about 1607, is the earliest Kongo textile documented in a European collection. Rudolf’s Kunstkammer was the most influential of its day. Conceived as a microcosm of the world, its encyclopedic holdings of natural and manmade artifacts served as a site of contemplation for the emperor and a resource for intellectuals and artists at his court. The fabric on both sides of this rectangular cushion cover features a classic Kongo design elaborating on a continuous field of lozenges.
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