Springtime, with the blooming of spring flowers and the perfumed scents of greenery once again permeating the air, along with May being the month of Mary in addition, often brings to the fore for me, beautiful floriated vestment designs, especially the sort that are made up of the softer shades and palette of the eighteenth century, which tend to mimic the colours one sees in nature at this time of the year. So it is for that reason that I thought I would feature a handful of vestments sets today, all of which include those specific design characteristics, and all of which hail from eighteenth century Sicily -- most coming from the city of Cefalù, located in the central north coast of the island.
By way of quick comment, some of course do not favour this style; others absolutely adore it. Personally, I'm not interested in engaging the vestment style wars as I think they are a waste of time and energy with little historical basis beyond nineteenth and twentieth century cultural polemics, mainly in the English speaking world. Whatever one's personal preferences are (and let's be clear, that's all they are), this style forms a part of the 'canon' of historical vestment design, and not only in the Latin West as is sometimes assumed, but also the Byzantine East. So with all that in mind, I do hope you will enjoy, and perhaps these examples may also broaden your palette (no pun intended).
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