The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 13, 2026

A horizontally oriented silk and gold thread embroidery depicts a bearded man in a blue and gold robe rising from a rectangular tomb. He raises his right hand in blessing while holding a red cross flag. Two stylized green and gold trees flank him against an intricate field of scrolling vines. At the tomb base, five armored soldiers in colored tunics lie with eyes closed. Needlework details fill the composition with textured floral patterns.

The Resurrection, from an Altar Frontal

1375–1400

Italy, Florence

Silk, gold and cotton thread, linen; raised work, embroidery: split, stem, and couching stitches
Overall: 29.2 x 41.9 cm (11 1/2 x 16 1/2 in.); Mounted: 38.7 x 51.4 cm (15 1/4 x 20 1/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1929.904
Location: Not on view

Description

This scene of the Resurrection, along with 11 additional embroideries of the life of Christ, may have formed an altar frontal, a hanging decorating the front of an altar. Originally, expensive gold thread covered the background, but it was removed and probably melted down for its monetary value. The loss of the gold exposes a rarely seen preparatory drawing on the linen ground created by an unidentified painter. Now exposed, thick cotton thread forms scrolling vines that, when covered with radiant gold thread, would have paralleled the effect of raised plaster decoration in paintings. What does survive is of the highest quality and refinement, including more than 20 brilliant shades of silk thread.
  • Fritz Iklé, Switerland
    ?–1929
    (Adolph Loewi [1888–1977], Los Angeles, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1929–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hague, Marian. 1933. “Notes on Some Fourteenth Century Embroideries in Judge Untermyer's Collection.” The Bulletin of the Needle and Bobbin Club. [New York]: Needle and Bobbin Club, XVII, no 1.. p. 49
    Farcy, Louis de. La broderie du XIe siècle jusqu'à nos jours d'après des spécimens authentiques et les anciens inventaires. Angers: Belhomme, 1890. pl. 187
    Underhill, Gertrude. "Old Embroideries in the Museum." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 8 (October 1930): 151–154. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 151-154 www.jstor.org
    Kurth, Betty. 1931. “Florentiner Trecento-Stickereien.” Pantheon 8.1931, 455-462. Reproduced: pp. 455, 459, fig. 6
    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Arts of the Middle Ages; A Loan Exhibition, February 17 to March 24, 1940. Boston, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1940. p. 37, no. 106
    Wadsworth Atheneum. The Life of Christ: A Loan Exhibition of Works of Art Illustrating Episodes in the Life of Christ : March 12 to April 25, 1948, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn. Hartford: The Atheneum, 1948. p. 25, no. 146, fig. 14
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 156 archive.org
    Grigaut, Paul L. Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance, 1400-1600; The Detroit Institute of Arts [Exhibition] November 18, 1958-January 4, 1959. Detroit, MA: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1958. p. 79, no. 179
    Grönwoldt Ruth. 1961. “Florentiner Stickereien in Den Inventaren Des Herzogs Von Berry Und Der Herzöge Von Burgund.” Mitteilungen Des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 10 (1): 33–58. p. 36, Abb. 3
    The International Style: The Arts in Europe Around 1400; [Exhibition]: October 23-December 2, 1962, / B. Baltimore, MD: Walters Art Gallery, 1962. p. 148-150, no. 158, pl. CXXIIIb
    "Gothic Art 1360-1440." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 50, no. 7 (September 1963): 174–215. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 93, pp. 184 and 214 www.jstor.org
    An Exhibition of Italian Panels & Manuscripts from the Thirteenth & Fourteenth Centuries, in Honor of Richard Offner: April 9 to June 6, 1965, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford. Hartford, CT: Wadsworth Atheneum, 1965. p. 33, no. 54, fig. 54
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 57 archive.org
    Van Fossen, David. "A Fourteenth-Century Embroidered Florentine Antependium." The Art Bulletin 50, no. 2 (1968): 141–152. pp. 141–152, figs. 14, 18 undefined
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 57 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 65 archive.org
    Wardwell, Anne E. "A Rare Florentine Embroidery of the Fourteenth Century." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 9 (1979): 322–333. Reproduced: fig. 5a www.jstor.org
  • Art of Embroidery in Late Medieval Europe (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 19, 2020-April 11, 2021).
    Only for Beauty? (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 2014-December 7, 2015).
    Draped in Splendor: Renaissance Textiles and the Church. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2003-September 26, 2004).
    Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 13-September 19, 1971).
    Circa 1300. Snite Museum, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN (organizer) (September 26-November 7, 1965).
    An Exhibition of Italian Panels & Manuscripts from the Thirteenth & Fourteenth Centuries In Honor of Richard Offner. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (organizer) (April 9-June 6, 1965).
    Gothic Art 1360-1440. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 6-September 15, 1963).
    The International Style: The Arts in Europe around 1400. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (October 23-December 2, 1962).
    Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance 1400-1600. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (November 18, 1958-January 4, 1959).
    Illustrating Episodes in the Life of Christ. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (organizer) (March 12-April 28, 1948).
    The Arts of the Middle Ages. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (February 17-March 24, 1940)
  • {{cite web|title=The Resurrection, from an Altar Frontal|url=false|author=|year=1375–1400|access-date=13 September 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.904