Tapestries were an important part of Western European interiors from the medieval period and the Hermitage's collection of Western European tapestries is the largest in Russia, covering five centuries of development. The earliest items are fragments of German wall-hangings of the 15th and early 16th centuries and French tapestries of the same period. A series of tapestries showing The Life of the Virgin Mary, commissioned by the Bishop of Clermont, Jacques d'Amboise, and made in the early 16th century at a Franco-Flemish workshop, is rightly regarded as among the masterpieces of the collection.
In the 16th century Flanders, and Brussels in particular, were the leading centers of tapestry weaving. The most interesting of the numerous 16th-century articles now carefully preserved in the Hermitage are two Brussels wall-hangings from the series The Creation of the World. Both Flemish and French tapestries accurately reflect the development of the Baroque style and its influence on the applied arts. The large wall-hangings after cartoons by Charles Lebrun made at the royal Gobelins factory in Paris contain characteristic features of tapestry weaving of the second half of the 17th century.
No less varied is the collection of 18th-century tapestries: from the light and elegant compositions of Jean Berain to tapestries after cartoons by Boucher - masterly imitations of his paintings. 19th-century tapestry weaving is represented by characteristic French, German, Belgian and English wall-hangings but one piece stands apart as being unique in Russia. This is a large tapestry woven at the end of the 19th century after a cartoon by Burne Jones in the workshops of William Morris in England.
The Hermitage collection of some 5,000 textiles reflects the development of Western European weaving from the medieval period to the early 20th century. The earliest items are fragments of Italian and Spanish patterned silks and linens from Perugia dating from the 13th to 14th centuries. Remarkable 15th and 16th century ecclesiastical vestments from various Italian cities provide us with a picture of the heights reached by silk weaving during the Renaissance.
Silks of the 17th to 18th centuries reflect the development of Baroque and Rococo styles, while 19th-century articles often reflect a Historicist reinterpretation of the ornamental designs of bygone ages. The collection culminates in pieces in the Art Nouveau style fashionable at the turn of the present century.
The Hermitage has over 1,500 pieces of lace. The most interesting examples are Italian needlepoint laces of the 16th century having geometrical designs and stylized representations of people and animals, but the Baroque style of the 17th century lead to greater variety. From the 18th century come delicately patterned Venetian needlepoint laces, French laces from Alencon and Argentan, point d'Angleterre laces from Brussel and numerous examples of Flemish laces, showing how the evolution of the Rococo style was reflected in this medium.
In the 19th century French and Belgian manufacturers produced larger items such as skirt lengths and dress trains, shawls and capes from Alencon and Brussels.
