The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 19, 2025
Chasuble, Stole, Burse (Corporal Case), and Maniple
1600s
Overall: 106 x 68.3 cm (41 3/4 x 26 7/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1443
Location: 003 Special Exhibition Hall
Description
This sumptuous polychrome velvet displays a central vase with abundant flora and exotic leaves flanking curving blossoming fronds on a gilt-metal thread ground. The pattern was created with five colors of cut and uncut (loops) velvet pile. Only the pile warps for the lush green velvet occur across the entire cloth, while each additional color appears in vertical stripes—crimson, peach, rose, and purple. These widely acclaimed velvets from Genoa were the most colorful woven in Europe. Both the long stole and the shorter maniple are insignia of the office of deacons, priests, and the higher clergy. The stole was worn under a chasuble according to the office and the maniple was hung on the left forearm. The burse is a stiff receptacle in which the folded corporal, a white linen cloth on which the sacred bread and chalice are placed during the Mass, is carried to and from the altar. The upper fabric matches the chasuble, the bottom is a plain silk, and the interior has an obligatory linen lining.- Phillips, Amanda. Sea Change: Ottoman Textiles between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. 2021. p. 211, fig. 6.9Lisby, Darnell-Jamal, William Griswold, Matteo Augello, Alessandra Arezzi Boza, Massimiliano Capella, Luke Meagher, Stefania Ricci, and Cleveland Museum of Art. Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2025. Reproduced: p. 174, pl. 51
- Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 2025-February 1, 2026).
- {{cite web|title=Chasuble, Stole, Burse (Corporal Case), and Maniple|url=false|author=|year=1600s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1443