Tefaf Restoration Fund Awards €25,000 to Medici Tapestry at Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) has been awarded €25,000 from the Tefaf Museum Restoration Fund to restore The Meeting of Dante and Virgil, a significant Renaissance tapestry created between 1547 and 1549. This marks the inaugural support for tapestry restoration by the fund, established in 2012. Measuring 5.3m by 4.7m, this piece is the sole early Medicean tapestry housed in a public collection in the US, recognized as the most crucial Italian Renaissance tapestry in the nation. Due to extensive damage, including slits and loss of silk weft, it has remained unseen for over 60 years. Restoration will be carried out by the Midwest Art Conservation Center in Minneapolis and is expected to be completed in time for public display this summer.
Key facts
- Tefaf Museum Restoration Fund awarded €25,000 to Minneapolis Institute of Art
- The Meeting of Dante and Virgil tapestry dates to around 1547-49
- Tapestry is 5.3m high and 4.7m wide
- It is the only early Medicean tapestry in a US public collection
- Tapestry has not been displayed in over 60 years due to poor condition
- Restoration will be done by Midwest Art Conservation Center
- Tapestry workshop founded in 1545 by Duke Cosimo I de' Medici
- Design by Francesco Salviati between 1546 and 1548
Entities
Artists
- Francesco Salviati
- Jan Rost
- Duke Cosimo I de' Medici
- Dante Alighieri
- Virgil
- Peter Paul Rubens
Institutions
- Tefaf
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Midwest Art Conservation Center
- Bank of America Art Conservation Project
- Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
Locations
- Minneapolis
- United States
- Florence
- Italy
- Brussels
- Belgium
- Dresden
- Germany