The workshop presented a multidisciplinaryapproach to the history of silk fabrics from the age of Marco Polo to the end of the fifteenth century, putting together historians, art historians, art collectors and philologists from Italy, Germany and China,and providing a rich source for animated discussions.

The topics ranged from sumptuary legislation and the impressive variety of forms, colours and patterns of 6,000 garments registered by the Florentine government in 1343, to the practices and challenges of collecting, restoring and displaying medieval Eurasian fabrics presented by the Director of the Bruschettini Foundation for Islamic and Asian Art.

The analysis of colours under the Mongol Yuan dynastyin China showed the complexity of shades and their meanings, while the arrival of the new crimson dyeing technique in Italy in the late fourteenth century highlighted the global efforts of Italian merchants for the acquisition of Asian know-how.

An overview of Chinese silk production, the analysis of a Venetian inventory and of changing fashions completed the series of papers.

The workshop was attended by 20 people, who at the end were invited to visit the collection of ancient textiles belonging to the Rubelli Foundation, a cultural institution created by one of the greatest Italian producers of silk fabrics.