The Formale is a medieval ornament and something we covered previously in a 2022 article on this topic, but by way of brief overview, it is a decorative metallic clasp, used by senior prelates, when wearing a cope, covering the place where the cope joins at the front breast. Within that article we had noted that there were three forms of the formale; the first was the solemn form, which typically includes gemstones, next there is the penitential version, which includes three pinecone like ornaments, and finally there was the common version, which typically includes an image of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.
Now, these were not necessarily mutually exclusive, and so one can find many historical examples of formale that include the dove, as per the common form, but also gemstones, thus making it the solemn form of the formale. Today, I thought it would be interesting to explore a number of different examples of these types of formale that include the image of the Holy Spirit, and as you will see, most of them are of the solemn variety.
Our examples are taken from various centuries, the dates of which we have included below each example. We shall begin with the more solemn form of the formale.
THE SOLEMN FORMALE
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| Manufactured in Rome in 1881 |
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| 1894 |
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| ca. 1875-1899 |
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| ca. 1900-1950 |
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| ca. 18th cent. |
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| ca. 1600-1700 |
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| Florentine, 18th century |
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| Manufactured in 1938 |
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| ca. 1900-1910 |
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| Florentine, 18th cent. |
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| 1889 |
* * *
THE COMMON / ORDINARY FORM
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| An example of the common form. Florentine manufacture, 1911 |
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| 1946 |
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| Second half of the 18th cent. |
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| 19th cent. |
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| Second half of the 18th cent. |
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