Artwork Page for Embroidered Front of an Altar

Details / Information for Embroidered Front of an Altar

Embroidered Front of an Altar

1600s–1700s

Italy or Spain

Medium
Satin and silk: embroidery
Measurements
Overall: 108 x 209.5 cm (42 1/2 x 82 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.901
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

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).
A horizontally long cream satin textile embroidered with ornate gold, red, and green silks. A central shield featuring a red cross over vertical red and gold stripes sits within a large gold-scrolled frame. Symmetrical arrangements of pink flowers and green foliage flank the center, divided by a horizontal gold-fringed band. Toward the edges, elaborate gold scrollwork with blue accents and bundles of wheat frame the composition against the lustrous cream background.

Embroidered Front of an Altar

1600s–1700s

Italy or Spain

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