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Source Description
This rare panel originally hung above a large embroidery that decorated the front of an altar in a church. The narrative begins with the Virgin’s parents and her early life; that panel is now in the Toledo Museum of Art. Cleveland’s portion continues the story with the Annunciation of the Virgin, Adoration of the Shepherds, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation of Christ, Christ among the Doctors, and the Assumption of the Virgin. The Death of the Virgin scene is likely missing. Painters usually sketched designs on stretched linen for embroiderers. Gold thread enriches the background and is secured in place with couching stitches in a small brick pattern.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
149376
label
Scenes of the Life of the Virgin, from an Altar Frontal
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
149376
contentType
object
title
Scenes of the Life of the Virgin, from an Altar Frontal
description
This rare panel originally hung above a large embroidery that decorated the front of an altar in a church. The narrative begins with the Virgin’s parents and her early life; that panel is now in the Toledo Museum of Art. Cleveland’s portion continues the story with the Annunciation of the Virgin, Adoration of the Shepherds, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation of Christ, Christ among the Doctors, and the Assumption of the Virgin. The Death of the Virgin scene is likely missing. Painters usually sketched designs on stretched linen for embroiderers. Gold thread enriches the background and is secured in place with couching stitches in a small brick pattern.
date
1330s or 1340s
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79930523
genreSpecific
Embroidery
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 16.8 x 127 cm (6 5/8 x 50 in.); Mounted: 27.9 x 137.2 cm (11 x 54 in.)
cul
Italy, Florence, 14th century
accession
1978.36
Source extras
tec
Silk, gold thread, linen; raised work, embroidery: split, stem, running, fishbone, and couching stitches
tombstone
Scenes of the Life of the Virgin, from an Altar Frontal, 1330s or 1340s. Italy, Florence, 14th century. Silk, gold thread, linen; raised work, embroidery: split, stem, running, fishbone, and couching stitches; overall: 16.8 x 127 cm (6 5/8 x 50 in.); mounted: 27.9 x 137.2 cm (11 x 54 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund, 1978.36
collection
T - Ecclesiastical
citations
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, “The Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Six Works from Von Hirsch Collection,” August 1, 1978, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
citation
Wardwell, Anne E. "A Rare Florentine Embroidery of the Fourteenth Century." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 66, no. 9 (1979): 322-33.
page_number
p. 322-33
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25159650
citation
Kleinbauer, W. Eugene. 1980. “Recent Major Acquisitions of Medieval Art by American Museums.” <em>Gesta</em> 19 (1): 67–77.
page_number
p. 75, fig. 27
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. 22-23, 58
creditline
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:41:19.899000
sourceId
149376
dept
Textiles
coll
T - Ecclesiastical
med
Silk, gold thread, linen; raised work, embroidery: split, stem, running, fishbone, and couching stitches
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
8a02361f7191dd16