Embroidered Front of an Altar

1600s - 1700s
Overall: 108 x 209.5 cm (42 1/2 x 82 1/2 in.)
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Location: not on view

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Description

This spectacular cloth with raised three-dimensional embroidery embellished the front of an altar. Lavishly applied gilt-metal thread creates architectural embellishments enhanced by grand vases displaying sheaves of wheat in the upper corners and bunches of grapes in the center of the fringed over-frontal, referring to the bread and wine of the Mass. The central coat of arms represents the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, a Roman Catholic mendicant order established in 1218 by Saint Peter Nolasco in the city of Barcelona, Spain, then in the principality of Catalonia (crown of Aragon).
Embroidered Front of an Altar

Embroidered Front of an Altar

1600s - 1700s

Italy or Spain, 17th-18th century

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