wool so as to throw the design into relief, is shown to be of Sicilian origin by the inscriptions which it bears (Plate VI. fig. 18). It represents scenes from the story of Tristan, agreeing in the main part with the _novella_ entitled "La Tavola Rotonda o l'istoria di Tristano." The quilt dates from the end of the 14th century. Many pattern-books for embroidery and lace were published in Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries.[10] [Illustration: PLATE III. FIG. 11.--SILK PANEL, EMBROIDERED WITH A HANGING LANTERN. Chinese work of the 17th or 18th century. Scale: ¼th. FIG. 12.--PORTION OF A LARGE HANGING, EMBROIDERED WITH FIGURES WITHIN MEDALLIONS, AND INSCRIPTIONS. From a church in Iceland, probably 17th century. Scale: 1/8th. FIG. 13.--PORTION OF A BED-HANGING, EMBROIDERED WITH FLOWERING TREES GROWING FROM MOUNDS. English work of the later part of the 17th century. Scale: 1/12th. FIG. 14.--APPAREL FOR A DALMATIC OF GREEN VELVET, EMBROIDERED WITH AN APPLIQUÉ PATTERN. Italian work of the 16th century. Scale: ¼th.] [Illustration: PLATE IV. FIG. 15.--PORTION OF THE BORDER OF A LINEN COVER, EMBROIDERED WITH A FIGURE OF ST CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA AND KNEELING VOTARIES. Italian work of the 16th century. Scale: 2/5ths. FIG. 16.--LINEN BORDER, EMBROIDERED WITH DEBASED FIGURES, BIRDS AND ANIMALS AMID FLOWERS. Cretan work, dated 1762. Scale: 4/9ths.] In the greater part of the Spanish peninsula art was for many centuries dominated by the Arabs, who overran the country in the 8th century, and were not finally subdued until the end of the 15th. Hispano-Moorish embroideries of the medieval period usually have interlacing patterns combined with Arabic inscriptions. In the 15th and 16th centuries Italian influence becomes evident. Later the effects of the Spanish conquests in Asia are seen. Eastern influence is, however, stronger in the case of the Portuguese, who seized Goa, on the west coast of the Indian peninsula, early in the 16th century, and during the whole of that century held the monopoly of the eastern trade. Many large embroideries were produced in the Indies, showing eastern floral patterns mingled with representations of Europeans, ships and coats of arms. Embroideries done in Portugal in the 16th and 17th centuries strongly reflect the influence of oriental patterns.