The first
written testimony of this cope is found in a 1505-1525 inventory, which
describes a terno (a set of chasuble, dalmatics, and cope) tailored in a
Moorish fabric with green velvet apparels and the coats of arms of the Velasco
and Mendoza families. The document also states that the set was used on Thursdays
(the establishment of a disciplined rubrical code for liturgical colors is
still a few decades away). Later inventories progressively cease to mention vestments
other than the cope. The change of the orphreys, from green to red velvet
is supposed to have taken place during the 17th century.
The base textile preserved from the original cope is a spectacular silk lampas, woven between 1408 and 1417 in the Nasrid emirate of Granada. The complex technique for the weaving of lampas arrived in Islamic Spain in the 12th century, and Granada became the capital of its production, which was exported to both the Islamic and Christian worlds. The use of a double weave, consisting basically of two fabrics woven into one another, allowed the introduction of multiple colors into the decorative patterns of the weave, and became the most priced luxury fabric available for centuries. This rich fabric, referred to as tiraz, was in all likelihood woven for the Alhambra palace or the royal court. The cope’s weave consists of several linear designs in blue, white, red, green, and yellow silk, alternating leaves and flowers with epigraphic decoration, as is still common in the Islamic world. The thuluth calligraphy reads: Izz limaulana al-Sultan – Glory to our lord the sultan.
One might
find it utterly incongruous to use a textile featuring such text on a Christian
liturgical vestment and may easily ascribe it to ignorance, and perhaps to the
budding fashion of pseudo-Kufic decorations so common during the renaissance. However, it should be kept in mind that the surrender
of the last Emir of Granada in 1492 was the end to almost 8 centuries of Islamic
presence in the Iberian Peninsula. The kingdoms of Portugal, Leon, Castile,
Navarre and Aragon were all born along a permeable and quite mobile border
between the Christian and Islamic worlds. 780 years of on and off Reconquista wars
did not impede some periods of peace and constant cultural exchange.
The bolt of
fabric used to tailored the original terno of the Condestables' Chapel was
likely a diplomatic gift or a spoil of war. The patrons, tailors and the clergy
involved in the production of these vestments were certainly aware of the
immense material and artistic value of the fabric. One might also speculate the
meaning of the calligraphic inscription was likely also known and not deemed
problematic, perhaps giving it a new, more acceptable interpretation. There are
several instances in which the term sultan is used to refer to Christian kings,
and with the translation not having a marked Islamic character to it, one could
easily say that the praise was to be directed to the Lord.
Following
the brief descriptions found in the inventories, paired with contemporary
examples, such as terno of Cardinal Mendoza (who incidentally was the Condestable’s
brother in law) I have attempted to digitally reconstruct what the original terno might
have looked like.
