| P3 has note
| - Garment and materials
The chasuble is an example of the richly decorated vestments commissioned for use in the Church. This particular example is typical of the International Gothic style favoured in the fifteenth centuries, the silk velvet characterised by scrolling motifs consistent with a dating of the late fifteenth century. Such a silk was suitable for both secular and ecclesiastical use, and might have been made in an Italian or Spanish centre (the most developed in Europe at this time). At that period chasubles were conical in shape, rather than fiddle- or violin-shaped, so this garment must have been altered at a later date (after the beginning of the seventeenth century). The silk may even have begun its life as a different form of dress or furnishing altogether, no major distinction between secular and ecclesiastical designs being made at that time. The orphreys may well date to earlier in the century, their composition and treatment being similar to Italian paintings of the 1420-50 period. The dimensions of the compartments of the orphreys may be useful eventually in identifying the geographical location of making (when guild regulations become easily accessible for different cities). Currently, identification can only be speculative, based on the aesthetics of the images. It is possible that these orphrey bands were originally intended/used for a cope. The embroidery was probably executed either in a professional workshop (urban or church) or by nuns. Certain similarities with the needlework image of St Verdiana (Viridiana) (4216-1857) in terms of composition and architectural setting are very evident; it is thought to be Florentine.
Iconography of orphreys
The Life of the Virgin is told in the embroidered panels on the orphreys in eight vignettes, including the Annunciation and Assumption. Rogers and Tinagli note that from as early as the 2nd century, Mary's virtues of humility, obedience, modesty and silence were extolled in contrast to Eve's negative characteristics, and that in the early fifteenth century such ideas were communicated to a wider audience visually via Fra Angelico's Annunciation scenes, and verbally by preachers such as the Franciscan Bernardino da Siena (e.g. in a 1427 sermon). Devotional activities focussed on different aspects of her life and were encouraged in Italy by both the church and the state, and many groups - not just women - felt drawn to her cult. Rosika Parker suggests that 'heroic women who transcended in virtue all women and all humans' became a popular theme in Renaissance writing, and that they were increasingly portrayed as meek and domesticated figures. At this time, celebrations of the Assumption of the Virgin were increasingly embroidered on ecclesiastical vestments , complementing her image as Mary the mother. In this representation, the architectural sets and the scenes with her parents undoubtedly stress her humanity as well as the importance of her role as the mother of Jesus Christ. (Mary Rogers and Paola Tinagli, Women in Italy, 1350-1650. Ideals and Realities. Manchester University Press, 2005, pp.17-8, 42-55; Rosika Parker, The Subversive Stitch. The Women's Press, 1984, pp. 65-6). (en)
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)