Chasuble

Unknown

late 16th century · Silk, metal, linen · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Two different red velvet cloths of gold have been cut, patched and collaged together here. Of good quality, but unusual in both technique and design, these can be attributed to Spanish weavers responding to- and subverting- more traditional Italian velvet conventions. In the late nineteenth, perhaps early twentieth century, these were paired with fragmentary embroidered orphreys depicting five of Christ's disciples, salvaged from some other piece, to create this chasuble-like garment. Too large to actually have been worn comfortably, this "vestment" was most likely assembled by a dealer to appeal to the art market than for use within an ecclesiastic context.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 16th century

Medium

Silk, metal, linen

Culture

Italian

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of the Rembrandt Club, 1911