The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 15, 2025

Procurator’s Velvet Stole

c. 1575–1600

Italy, Venice

Alto e basso silk velvet
Overall: 142.2 x 71.1 cm (56 x 28 in.); Mounted: 147.3 x 77.5 cm (58 x 30 1/2 in.)
Bequest of John L. Severance 1942.829
Location: 003 Special Exhibition Hall

Description

Venetian law obliged senators to wear colored textiles, in contrast to other male citizens, who wore black. The Procurator, a very high level government official, was required to wear a red stole, a cloth worn over one shoulder. So that it would read the same from front and back, the pattern reverses halfway, done by the weaver’s assistant on a drawloom. The line down the center is part of the original manufacture, enabling two stoles to be cut apart for use. The survival of an entire, uncut loom width is extremely rare. The velvet has two different heights of cut pile. The longer pile, which appears lighter, forms the pattern.
  • Catalogue of the John L. Severance Collection: Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942. Mentioned: p. 60, cat. no. 130 archive.org
    Lisby, 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. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 19, fig. 22
    Lisby, Darnell-Jamal. “The Road to Renaissance to Runway: Planning a Fashion Exhibition.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 65, no. 2 (2025): 10-11. Reproduced: p. 11; Mentioned: p. 10 archive.org
  • Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 2025-February 1, 2026).
    Renaissance lace rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1, 2012-December 9, 2013).
    Exhibition of the John L. Severance Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 12, 1942-March 14, 1943).
  • {{cite web|title=Procurator’s Velvet Stole|url=false|author=|year=c. 1575–1600|access-date=15 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.829