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Source Description
The chasuble is the main sleeveless outer vestment worn by priests while officiating during Mass. By the 1400s, the chasuble became highly ornamented with embroidered decorative bands called orphreys, often in the shape of a cross, as seen here. This luxurious Italian example features velvet of three colors with lush pile. In Graz, Austria, it was embellished with a locally embroidered orphrey featuring crowns, haloes, and backgrounds of scenes formed with gold thread. The Virgin and Child, and Saints Catherine, Dorothy, Ursula, and Barbara are featured.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
128066
label
Chasuble Back with Embroidered Orphrey Band
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
128066
contentType
object
title
Chasuble Back with Embroidered Orphrey Band
description
The chasuble is the main sleeveless outer vestment worn by priests while officiating during Mass. By the 1400s, the chasuble became highly ornamented with embroidered decorative bands called orphreys, often in the shape of a cross, as seen here. This luxurious Italian example features velvet of three colors with lush pile. In Graz, Austria, it was embellished with a locally embroidered orphrey featuring crowns, haloes, and backgrounds of scenes formed with gold thread. The Virgin and Child, and Saints Catherine, Dorothy, Ursula, and Barbara are featured.
date
1415–25
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60763345
genreSpecific
Embroidery
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 122.2 x 73.7 cm (48 1/8 x 29 in.)
cul
Italy (chasuble ground); Austria, Graz (orphrey)
accession
1950.85
Source extras
tec
Velvet: cut pile and voided; silk, gold and silver thread: embroidery; split and couching stitches
tombstone
Chasuble Back with Embroidered Orphrey Band, 1415–25. Italy (chasuble ground); Austria, Graz (orphrey). Velvet: cut pile and voided; silk, gold and silver thread: embroidery; split and couching stitches; overall: 122.2 x 73.7 cm (48 1/8 x 29 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1950.85
collection
T - Ecclesiastical
citations
citation
Heinemann, Rudolf J., and Adolf Feulner. Aus dem Besitz der Stiftung Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz. Castagnola/Lugano: Villa Favorita, 1949.
page_number
no. 477
citation
Svec, Evelyn. "A Half Chasuble with Bohemian Embroidery." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 39, no. 7 (1952): 189-91.
page_number
p. 189-91
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25141815
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. 194
citation
Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. Aspects of Late Mediaeval Art; The Mediaeval Conference, the Ohio State University. 1958.
page_number
no. 7 (under textiles)
citation
"Gothic Art 1360-1440." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 50, no. 7 (1963): 174-215.
page_number
p. 194, 201, no. 8
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25151960.
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. 65
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. 65
citation
Mayer-Thurman, Christa C., John Maxon, Aidan Kavanagh, Donald L. Garfield, and Horace T. Allen. <em>Raiment for the Lord's Service: A Thousand Years of Western Vestments</em>. Chicago: Art Institute, 1975.
page_number
no. 25 p. 100-101; illus. p. 101
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. 73
citation
Martin Nagy, Rebecca. Textiles in Daily Life in the Middle Ages. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1985.
page_number
p. 14, 57
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:36:32.501000
sourceId
128066
dept
Textiles
coll
T - Ecclesiastical
med
Velvet: cut pile and voided; silk, gold and silver thread: embroidery; split and couching stitches
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
3db7b53e16082de0