Green vestments from the Renaissance and Middle Ages have less commonly survived and come down to us, no doubt in part because typically the vestments which have survived are also those that are the most precious and ornamental in nature -- and typically the most precious and ornamental vestments are those used for the most important feasts, and those are not green in liturgical colour. So then, when I came across this beautiful green survival, a cut silk velvet cope dating to the 1500s, it certainly caught my attention.
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| Detail of the cut velvet, showing the fashionable Renaissance era "pomegranate pattern" |
This particular cope has Italo-German origins. The velvet is likely Italian, while the embroidered orphreys and shield are thought to be German in origin. Design wise, the cope is a classic bit of Renaissance work, including its fringed hem, common to Renaissance era vestments, while the shield itself includes a beautiful, tricoloured fringe -- yet another beautiful design characteristic from this particular period of time.
The most striking feature of this cope is surely the beautifully embroidered shield showing us a scene of the Annunciation. Our Lady, shown kneeling at a prie-dieu in prayer, looks back toward the Angel Gabriel while the Holy Spirit is seen descending upon the Virgin in the form of a dove. Above the shield proper a circular medallion with a cross inside; eight stars are found within that circle and another four without, thus totalling twelve stars. This is perhaps a dual reference to the twelve apostles on the one hand and to the "eighth day" on the other -- a symbol tied to Christ, the Resurrection and the idea of the old creation making way for the new.
Cope designs from this period also typically include full figured depictions of saints within their orphreys and this cope is certainly no different. Taking a closer look at the front orphrey we see a number of elements, including four saintly intercessors, two male and two female; we can also find Christograms and other symbols.
Saints wise, we find four of the most popular saints from the period. Ss. Peter and Paul, were, of course, popular throughout various centuries given their foundational, apostolic importance within the Church. Beneath them though are two female saints, saints who come up regularly in Medieval and Renaissance art in particular, perceived as they were as very powerful intercessors: I refer here to St. Barbara and St. Catherine of Alexandria.
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| St. Paul and St. Peter |
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| St. Barbara and St. Catherine of Alexandria |
As one's attention naturally is naturally drawn to these four figures, there are some details you might easily miss, so let's dig into them a bit.
First, there is the inclusion of a gothic-scripted IHS monogram surrounded by flowers that take a vaguely cross-like form. Second, we also find the theme of the Enclosed Garden, a theme that shows up frequently in Medieval and Renaissance art. If you are not familiar with that, we have spoken of it here before. It is a theme typically imbued with symbolism related to the Blessed Virgin Mary and further to the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life and to the New Jerusalem. Remembering the Marian theme found on the shield itself, we can perhaps better understand why this particular imagery was selected.
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| Left: IHS Christogram - Right: The Enclosed Garden |
Photo credits: Victoria and Albert Museum
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