The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Stole

Stole

1600s
Overall: 221.6 x 19.5 cm (87 1/4 x 7 11/16 in.)
Gift of J. H. Wade 1916.1443.2
Location: not on view

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. 6.9
  • Opulent Fashion in the Church. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 19, 2016-October 2, 2017).
  • {{cite web|title=Stole|url=false|author=|year=1600s|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1443.2