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Source Description
This large, embroidered altar cloth is one of the rarest, most important medieval church furnishings in existence. It was stitched by nuns in the Premonstratensian Convent in Altenberg on the Lahn River, north of Frankfurt, Germany, and was used to cover the church’s high altar in the weeks<br>leading up to Easter. The cloth is an example of linen embroidery, a specialty of German nuns in the later Middle Ages.<br>The Altenberg monastery church once had valuable furnishings; the high altar retable (a decorated frame with sculptures and paintings on the top of an altar) has survived, the main parts of which are now in the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
126139
label
Altar Cloth
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
126139
contentType
object
title
Altar Cloth
description
This large, embroidered altar cloth is one of the rarest, most important medieval church furnishings in existence. It was stitched by nuns in the Premonstratensian Convent in Altenberg on the Lahn River, north of Frankfurt, Germany, and was used to cover the church’s high altar in the weeks<br>leading up to Easter. The cloth is an example of linen embroidery, a specialty of German nuns in the later Middle Ages.<br>The Altenberg monastery church once had valuable furnishings; the high altar retable (a decorated frame with sculptures and paintings on the top of an altar) has survived, the main parts of which are now in the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany.
date
c. 1350
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79905410
genreSpecific
Embroidery
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 154.3 x 374.5 cm (60 3/4 x 147 7/16 in.)
cul
Germany, Altenberg on the Lahn, Premonstratensian Convent, 14th century
accession
1948.352
Source extras
tec
embroidery: linen
tombstone
Altar Cloth, c. 1350. Germany, Altenberg on the Lahn, Premonstratensian Convent, 14th century. Embroidery: linen; overall: 154.3 x 374.5 cm (60 3/4 x 147 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1948.352
collection
T - Ecclesiastical
inscriptions
inscription
various motifs enclosed in quatrefoils with identifying inscriptions in Gothic letters.
didYouKnow
When lit from behind, the previously hidden details emerge and the complex design becomes evident.
citations
citation
Farcy, Louis de.<em> La Broderie, du XI siècle jusqu'à nos jours, d'après des specimens authentiques et les anciens inventaires.</em> 1er (et 2) supplément. 1er (et 2) supplément. Angers: Belhomme, 1900.
page_number
p. 49
citation
Lehnert, Georg, W. Behncke, E. W. Braun, Moriz Dreger, Otto von Falke, J. Folnesics, Otto Kümmel, Erich Pernice, and Georg Swarzenski. <em>Illustrierte geschichte des Kunstgewerbes.</em> Berlin: M. Oldenbourg, 1907.
page_number
vol. 1, p. 343
citation
Der Grosse Brockhaus. <em>Grosse Brockhaus</em>. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1930.
page_number
p. 450
citation
Kurth, B., "Genres of European Embroidery in the Middle Ages," <em>Ciba Review</em> no. 5 (December 1945).
page_number
p. 1810
citation
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "A Romanesque Lenten Cloth from Germany." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 40, no. 1 (1953)
page_number
pp. 75-5
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 144-145
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and William Mathewson Milliken. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>New York: H.N. Abrams, 1958.
page_number
p. 11
citation
<em>Embroidery</em>, XI (Spring 1960).
page_number
pp. 8-10
citation
Wilckens, Leonie von, "Hessische Leinenstickerein des 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts,"<em> Anzeiger des Germanischen National-Museums</em> (1954-59).
page_number
p. 15, fig. 8
citation
Bober, Harry. "Medieval Art at Cleveland," <em>Apollo </em>(Dec. 1963).
citation
Wagner, Margarete. <em>Sakrale Weisstickereien des Mittelalters.</em> Esslingen: Burgbücherei W. Schneider, 1963.
page_number
pp. 26-27, fig. 22-24
citation
Schuette, Marie, and Sigrid Müller-Christensen. <em>The Art of Embroidery</em>. London: Thames and Hudson, 1964.
page_number
[[. 98-99, fig. 154-57
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 52
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 53
citation
Clabburn, Pamela, and Helene Von Rosenstiel. <em>The Needleworker's Dictionary</em>. New York: Morrow, 1976.
page_number
p. 159
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 61
citation
Dean, Beryl. <em>Embroidery in Religion and Ceremonial. </em>London: Batsford, 1981.
page_number
figs. 3-4
citation
Aldenkirchen, J., "Früh-mittelalterliche Leinen-Stickereien," <em>Jahrbücher des Vereins Von Alterthumsfreunden im Rheinlande</em>, LXXIX (Bonn, Universitätsdruckerei, 1985).
page_number
pp. 260-65
citation
Martin Nagy, Rebecca. <em>Textiles in Daily Life in the Middle Ages. </em>Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1985.
page_number
pp. 24-5
citation
Dawson, Barbara. <em>White Work: Embroidery</em>. London: Batsford, 1987.
page_number
Contents Page
citation
Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Resplendent Faith: Liturgical Treasuries of the Middle Ages. </em>Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2009.
page_number
p. 71, fig. 60
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, David Franklin, and C. Griffith Mann. <em>Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012.
page_number
p. 120-1
citation
Seeberg, Stefanie. 2012. "Women As Makers of Church Decoration: Illustrated Textiles at the Monasteries of Altenberg/Lahn, Rupertsberg, and Heiningen (13th - 14th C.)". In Martin, Therese, ed. <em>Reassessing the Roles of Women As 'Makers' of Medieval Art and Architecture</em>. Visualising the Middle Ages, V. 7, 1-2. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
page_number
vol. 1, chapter 10, p. 355-391
citation
Seeberg, Stefanie. Textile Bildwerke im Kirchenraum: Leinenstickereien im Kontext mittelalterlicher Raumausstattungen aus dem Prämonstratenserinnenkloster Altenberg/Lahn. 2014.
page_number
p. 214-217
citation
Sander, Jochen. Schaufenster des Himmels: der Altenberger Altar und seine Bildausstattung = Heaven on display : the Altenberg altar and its imagery. 2016.
citation
Pregla, Barbara, Anja Preiss, and Evemarie Schaper. <em>Die Textilien im Domschatz zu Halberstadt: Bestandskatalog.</em> [Riggisberg, Switzerland]: Abegg-Stiftung, 2025.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 85, n. 18; p. 186, n. 6, vol. 4
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-06-10 17:59:12.696000
sourceId
126139
dept
Textiles
coll
T - Ecclesiastical
med
embroidery: linen
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
1e32ddfba8fb7d2d