The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 22, 2024
Embroidered Front of an Altar
1600s - 1700s
Overall: 108 x 209.5 cm (42 1/2 x 82 1/2 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.901
Location: not on view
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).- "The Relation of the Museum to Local Industry." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 5, no. 10 (1918): 122-31. Reproduced: p. 125 www.jstor.org
- Opulent Fashion in the Church. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 19, 2016-October 2, 2017).
- {{cite web|title=Embroidered Front of an Altar|url=false|author=|year=1600s - 1700s|access-date=22 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.901