Recently I came across a truly stunning set of vestments from the Norbertine Abbey of Averbode, located near Brussels in Belgium -- but first a bit of history about the abbey itself. The abbey was founded in the first half of the twelfth century before it was suppressed for a time in the late 1700's due to the impact of the French Revolution. Fortunately the abbey's suppression only lasted a few decades before it was restored in the first half of the nineteenth century.
In the 1500's the abbey became quite prosperous, at which time the abbey church was richly redecorated and furnished in a baroque style and by the late 1600's it had at least eighty Norbertines in residence. Regrettably in successive periods the abbey would undergo various civil and financial struggles, ultimately resulting in the abbey having to sell off much of the church's liturgical and artistic treasure.
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| The abbey church |
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| Averbode Abbey |
Fortunately, the abbey was able to be re-established once again in the 1830's and one of the items of liturgical treasure we fortunately still have is a splendid set of gold vestments.
The vestments in question were exhibited as part of an exhibition celebrating 900 years of the Norbertines, and while I do not have a great deal of information specific to them, they are extraordinarily beautiful and thus deserve to be shown for reason of their quality and beauty alone.
The two pieces evidently come from a larger set, either a Solemn Mass set or perhaps a Pontifical Mass set. From their materials used and their particular style, I would suggest that they likely originate from sometime in the late 1500's or the 1600's -- perhaps during the aforementioned period of prosperity for the abbey. Let's take a look.
Some closer details for your consideration:
These vestments are amongst some of the finest examples of vestment work from this particularly period, and one can well image that they must have been a sight to behold when placed with their other parts and pieces and set into their proper and traditional liturgical context.
Both pieces are characterized by their very rich, gold coloured silk. Paired with this are a set of absolutely stunning embroideries that are characterized by their particularly sophisticated style and execution.
In terms of the chasuble, the embroideries include various scenes taken from the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary that have been set into an early instance of the French-influenced, Parisian-shaped cross orphrey. The cope similarly follows a style that we would typically today associate with the French, the shield of which includes a scene of martyrdom by beheading. I would suspect the scene intends to depict the martyrdom of a Norbertine or some other saint that was martyred during the Protestant reformation.
These vestments are amongst some of the finest examples of vestment work from this particularly period, and one can well image that they must have been a sight to behold when placed with their other parts and pieces and set into their proper and traditional liturgical context.
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