The Renaissance has to be amongst one of the most elegant and noble of ages where vestment design is concerned. It is a period that is characterized by luxurious velvets and silks, as well as embroidered designs, both figurative and vegetal. I've often characterized it as a period that combines the best of two worlds, sitting somewhere between the Middle Ages on the one hand (with its particular emphasis on figurative depictions) and the eighteenth century tradition on the other (with its own emphasis on beautiful, stylized vegetal motifs).
This particular set -- which, regrettably I can only show in part as the chasuble appears to be lost -- is part of the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It is a Spanish set that was created sometime between the years 1510-1540.
The cope is especially stunning, made of a crimson red velvet body with stylized floral designs and an ornamental tasseled fringe. Paired with this is a stunning green/gold orphrey that includes embroidered red, gold and blue vines and floral motifs as well as round medallions containing images of saints -- most are now difficult to make out regrettably, making their identification difficult.
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| Details of the front orphreys of the cope |
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| Detail of one the medallions. A male saint is shown in the ancient robes, holding a palm of martyrdom and staff. Possibly St. James or St. Christopher? |
The shield of the cope is similarly ornamented though here we can fortunately still clear make out the figures contained within the medallion which are a representation of the Virgin and Child.
For those who are less familiar and possibly still grappling with how these collars were worn, here is a digital approximation:
We do at least have a dalmatic/tunicle from the set, and here we begin to more clearly see its Spanish roots. This particular piece has the typical shape and design characteristics of the Spanish style with its longer arms and large rectangular decorative panels. Unlike the cope however, there are no figures, only ornamental vases and vegetal motifs. Even despite that, I think you'll agree it is quite beautiful all the same.
Finally we have one of the distinctive collarin taken from the set -- which is the other 'tell' that this particular set is Spanish in origin, for this particular shape of liturgical collar (which is worn by the deacon and subdeacon) is particular to Spain. (And lest I be misunderstood, there are indeed some other regions -- Lyon and Milan specifically -- that also use liturgical collars, but each of these regions' collars have their own distinctive shape by which we can identify their particular place of origin.) At any rate, in this instance we see a beautifully designed Spanish collar with a white and gold fringe and a central cherub.
A truly elegant set, one worthy of (presumably) a cathedral.
Photo credits:
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O354280/dalmatic-unknown/
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