page_title: Tristan Quilt
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Tristan Quilt / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of the 14th century Tristan Quilt on display at the V&amp;A Museum.
context_page_description: The Tristan Quilt, sometimes called the Tristan and Isolde Quilt or the Guicciardini Quilt, is one of the earliest surviving quilts in the world. Depicting scenes from the story of Tristan and Isolde, an influential romance and tragedy, it was made in Sicily during the second half of the 14th century. There are at least two extant sections of the quilt, one of which is displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Medieval and Renaissance Galleries, and the other in the Bargello in Florence. A third quilt, also depicting Tristan and Isolde, but not thought to be part of the V&A and Bargello examples, is held in private hands. The Tristan Quilts are the only known surviving examples of medieval quilts.
context_section_description: It was long believed that the quilts were made to be given as a wedding gift to Pietro di Luigi Guicciardini and Laodomia Acciaiuli in 1395. although recent research suggests an earlier date.  The three hunting horns on Tristan's shield are the coat of arms of the Guicciardini family. The inventories of the Guicciardini family do not include a definitive reference to the quilts, but do mention "three quilted bedcovers".
  The V&A quilt, according to its museum number (1391-1904), was acquired in 1904.
  The Bargello acquired their quilt in July 1927 from Count Paolo Guicciardini, to whose family it is believed the quilt had always belonged.
caption: Tristan's shield with three hunting horns.
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