Venice (Italy), c. 120 x 27 cm, second half of the 15th century, gold embroidery made of gold thread wound around yellow-white silk;

partly as a result of widespread illiteracy, figurative embroideries were important elements used for altars, church spaces and especially the officiating priests’ liturgical vestments, worn on the occasion of specific church festivities, the precious textiles not only conveyed a message, but they also had a magnificent effect on the people who predominantly lived in modest conditions at that time;

among the following, extremely rare ‘orphreys’, the present museum-quality item sticks out on the grounds of the high percentage of gold; almost wholly preserved, made of linen with gold and silk embroidery, its width suggests that it must have been originally used as decorative element on a chasuble; the embroidered surface consists of three fields with vaulted architectural elements and two images of saints, at the centre is the Madonna with Child, the border end depicts Saint John the Baptist with his attributes: his animal skin robe, long hair and the Old Testament and a lamb in his left hand, the silk embroidery threads on the linen base have partly fallen out, as a result of which the preliminary drawings are now visible, subsequently framed with red border all around, mounted and secured on several linen strips on the back. (MA)

Lit.: Christa-Maria Jeitner, Der Textilbestand im Dom zu Brandenburg und seine Geschichte; Uta-Christiane Bergemann, Kataloge des Deutschen Textilmuseums Krefeld, vol. 3, Europäische Stickereien 1250-1650; Maria Varju-Ember, Leonie von Wilckens, Die textilen Künste, Von der Spätantike bis um 1500; Alte Textilien, Kunstschätze des ungarischen Nationalmuseums.