LACMA goes local to acquire 18th century Italian textile

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Major U.S. museums spend so much time and money pursuing works of art abroad that it’s often easy for them to forget that some foreign treasures can be found in their own backyards.

Today, LACMA announced on its blog that it has acquired an 18th century Italian altar frontal -- which is ‘a decorated textile, usually large, hanging on the front of the altar,’ according to the museum. The source of the discovery was not a wealthy art collector or a Sotheby’s auction, but rather St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church in the San Gabriel Valley.

The church, located in San Marino just 21 miles away from the museum, has owned the altar frontal since the 1950s. At a width of more than 9 feet, the textile features intricate embroidering, colorful silk threading and encrustations of gold and silver, according to LACMA.

Rev. George F. Woodward III of Saint Edmund’s oversaw the transfer of the piece to the museum. (He had also spoken to the Huntington Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.)

Kaye Spilker, a curator at LACMA’s Costume & Textiles Department, wrote that the altar frontal was most likely made for a church in Northern Italy around 1730 to 1740, though she also noted that ‘virtuoso artisans worked throughout Europe for royal and aristocratic patrons as well.’ She said that the tapestry’s floral patterns were probably a result of Europe’s growing fascination at that time with imported Asian flora as well as a burgeoning public interest in botany.

-- David Ng

Image: LACMA’s altar frontal, a gift of St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church, San Marino. Credit: LACMA