� THE ART OF CARPET
Antique Carpets
Below there is a light fabric , so subtly and meticulously painted that one can see the smallest pattern of rhombuses with a cross in the middle . This is clearly a traditional patterned heddle weaving . Perugia was famous for the canvas in Italy . It was usually woven using the technique of twill or rhombus twill ( as in a fresco ), which the Italians call “ occhio di pernice ” ( quail ’ s eye ). The patterns were created with an additional weft using brocade technique ( Pic . 4 ). It is possible to assume that this is how the curtains looked in Florence at that time .
It is important to note that the carving on the wooden wall of the sofa has the same pattern as rhombus in the carpet which is equal-and-shape-ended cross ( the sufferings of Christ ) with additional triangles ( inwardly , which increases the sufferings ).
In European decor , including textile , the cross is also common ( Pic . 5 ) as well as in Islamic art . The rest of the rhombus patterns are not clear .
Having highly appreciated the artist ’ s conscientiousness , let us see how he depicted the “ carpet ” ( Pic . 3 ). Bipedal creatures , more like animals ( dragons ?) than birds , with crocheted tails , open mouth / beak are inscribed in four squares . In the right сorner at Mary ’ s feet , something else can be seen . “ Birds ” are shown primitively , with straight thick lines . The background under them alternates with the classic colours : red and blue . The corners are slightly cut with rhombuses so that the squares become octagons . The fringe on the left indicates that it really should be a carpet .
Above , on the blue fringe , a zigzag with small arrows pointing inward is visible . If the rhombuses had not been placed in the border , it would have looked like a traditional curly carpet fringe . Next fringe has two rows of white dots . On the left , at the end , white geometrized S-shaped sighs are visible .
The near edge of the “ carpet ” goes beyond the edge of the picture . However , everything is not typical for carpet compositions . Rhombuses between octagons , the end border are not connected with the lateral one in the pattern . The rhombuses are cut into the border and the figures of animals are not typical for carpets .
Thus , one gets the impression that this is an invented carpet based on different textiles of that time , or a local woven product . But it is not a real oriental carpet .
The mysterious history of oriental carpets in Europe began with an unassuming medieval fresco .
Pic . 8 Tablecloth , linen , Embroidery . Fragment , 115х315 cm , second half of XIII century , maybe from Lower Saxony , found in the monastery of Gifhorn-Nord Brauchus in Isenhagen ( Germany ), District Museum of Hankensbüttel , neg . 509.247
In two , almost identical copies of Fra Bartolomeo ’ s frescoes , created by Gentile da Fabriano or in his workshop ( Pic . 6 ), the previous composition is preserved , but corrections have been made to everything . The same carpet is depicted , but this is not a copy from the fresco , since “ mistakes ” are clearly corrected in it . This is definitely a small rug with a red fringe around the entire perimeter . The figures on the carpet have also been changed . The image at Mary ’ s feet resembles a symmetrical composition with birds and animals at the tree of life with illegible details . To the left there is a “ dragon ” with a zigzag pattern on its body , frighteningly huge eyes , horns or snakes on its head , three legs and a forked tail ( or are they snakes ?). There is , apparently , an eagle on the left . But the carpet still does not look like an oriental one ( Pic . 7 ).
A lot of copies of the famous fresco of the same type were created by the painters of Florence . Later , in the XVI-XVII centuries , it was much easier to do it in an easel painting in oil on wood or canvas . The artists sought to resemble Fra Bartolomeo ’ s fresco in depicting the characters and the interior as a whole , but in details they felt free .
Considering these works in detail , it is impossible to attribute any of the carpets with the plot of the Annunciation to the real oriental carpet . The conclusion suggests that Fra Bartolomeo may have depicted the carpet as the carpet of that time in distant
Pic 9 , 10 Beato Angelico ( 1400-1455 ) Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Saints , between 1438 and 1443 , wood , tempera , gold . 220х227 cm , Florence , National Museum of San Marco
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