Chasuble Back
CultureVenetian
Datemid-15th century
MediumVelvet and silk with brocaded metallic threads
DimensionsOverall: 43 1/2 × 25 3/4 inches (110.49 × 65.41 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number31-104
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionMade from four pieces of re-used velvet. Two selvedge edges are used for the center back seam, but the other edges are cut. The marks where the applied cross-orphrey was sewn to the back are clearly visible, and marks of two heraldic shields. Back of chasuble in dark red velvet brocade. Pomegranate design and small scattered buds on gold. On the ground, pomegranate branches in blossom in two depths of pile.Exhibition HistoryThreads of Gold: Brocades and Embroideries for the Church, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, July 2-September 1, 1985, no. 3
This is the luxuriously decorated back panel of a chasuble, a sleeveless vestment worn over the white linen robe of a priest during services. Its bold, floral patterning is typical of Renaissance velvets. During this period of expanded exploration and trade, Spain and Italy—particularly the city of Venice—emerged as major centers of textile production. This panel displays one of the most opulent of the textile patterns: a background of red, cut-pile velvet of interlacing vegetation and abstract floral elements further embellished with brocaded pomegranates and floral motifs in metallic threads.
Threads of Gold: Brocades and Embroideries for the Church , exh. cat. (Lawrence, KS: Spencer Museum of Art, 1985), unpaginated.
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