Now that we're entering the time of liturgical green once again, I thought we'd take a look at a unique solemn Mass set dated to the late 1600's that is presently found in the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
The set is Spanish in its origins as well as its design (as can be seen by the distinctive Spanish shape of the chasuble, dalmatic, stole and maniple). The set is made from a green silk velvet which has been accented with red velvet orphreys -- making for quite a striking colour contrast. The design also include yellow satin appliqué designs that hav been placed not only on the orphrey, but also over the entire surface of the vestments (in the form of stylized flowers), but perhaps most striking of all is the inclusion of medallions which contain sixteenth century embroideries of Christ and the saints.
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| (Source) |
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| St. Francis |
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| The Christ Child |
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| Possibly St. Barbara |
The dalmatic and tunicle of the set continue the same design theme as the chasuble, also adding red and gold acanthus leaves for the clavi of the dalmatic. Four more embroidered images of saints are found on the front and back panels of both dalmatics (technically a dalmatic and tunicle of course, but there is nothing which distinguishes the one from the other).
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| One of the two dalmatics in the set (Source) |
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| An unidentified Franciscan saint with a pilgrim's staff. |
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| St. John the Baptist |
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| St. Anthony |
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| St. John |
Finally we have the cope from the set. For whatever reason, the cope is the one piece in the set which doesn't include the distinctive red orphreys -- which is rather a shame because it would have been quite stunning; it does however include the other distinctive design elements.
Curiously there is a second chasuble that the collection has associated with this set. While not exactly identical, certainly by examining the velvet and the red bordering on this second chasuble we can see that it would certainly appear that it has very least been made at the same time and place -- and probably here again with recycled elements where the orphrey is concerned..
This orphrey has especially nice IHS and MAR monogram designs that are worth taking closer note of. They are surrounded by beautiful circular appliqués that make them stand out from the rest of the orphrey design.
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