In the coming weeks, we will explore the magnificent embroidered vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece. These vestments are kept in Vienna, Austria, at the Weltliche Schatzkammer of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, also known as the Imperial Treasury. If there were such a thing as the UNESCO World Heritage list of embroideries, these vestments would be in the top ten. Astonishingly, the embroidered vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece have never been properly studied and published. The most complete publication is now over a hundred years old! And all subsequent papers just summarise what is in there. By reading through the antiquated literature, I find all sorts of interesting details that either make me smile or that make me want to tear my hair out. The more I study the pieces myself, the more I am getting the feeling that things don’t quite add up.

The official story is that the vestments, a chasuble, three copes, a dalmatic, a tunicella and two antependia, were made for the Holy Mass when members of the Order of the Golden Fleece met. This knightly order was instigated by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, when he married Isabella of Portugal at Bruges on the 10th of January 1429. The problem is that the making of these vestments cannot be identified in any historical document. They are therefore dated on stylistic grounds to have been made between 1425 and 1440. Not until 1477 are these vestments mentioned in an inventory of the Order of the Golden Fleece. With the advancement of French Revolutionary Army on Brussels, the vestments were brought to Vienna in 1797.

My problem with the very early date of 1425-1440 lies in the expertly executed or nué embroidery. Embroidery made before this time and up until around 1440 does not show such a high skill level. An example is the mitre from Sainte Chapelle, dating to 1375-1390—sparse use of the technique. The St Martin’s embroideries, dated 1430-1435, do not come close to the skill level of the vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The only embroidery that comes close is an antependium kept in Poland. It has the same provenance and dating as the vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and I am wondering if it has been dated by it. It seems odd to me that the vestments of the Order of the Fleece show or nué of the highest skill level in a time in which the technique was in its infancy.

The oldest scholarly paper is from 1858 and was written by Eduard Freiherr von Sacken (1825-1883). He was an archaeologist and art historian. As you can see from his name, Eduard belonged to the nobility. In his paper ‘Der burgundische Messornat des goldenen Vliess-Ordens in der k. k. Schatzkammer zu Wien‘ (pp. 113-118), Eduard already presses for a more elaborate publication of these magnificent embroidered vestments. He also thinks it is unlikely that these vestments were specifically made for the Order of the Golden Fleece. After all, there are no clues left on the embroidery that connect it with the Order or with Philip the Good. He proposes that the embroideries were taken, at a later date, from the large corpus of vestments that were made for the Burgundian dukes and gifted to the order.

The next publication on the vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece dates to 1864. The Kunsthistorisches Museum published it on the occasion of having the vestments on loan from the Imperial Treasury for an exhibition. Interestingly, the two antependia are not included. The justification for that is that they are of a later date, so not fully part of the set, and that they are of a lesser artistic quality. However, it is now believed that they are slightly older than the other pieces. This publication suggests that the embroideries were ordered in 1451 by the Order of the Golden Fleece. Again, a bit later than the 1425-1440 date stated today. The museum is also certain that the embroideries were made in Arras, in modern-day France.

The most elaborate publication dates to 1912 and was written by art historian Julius von Schlosser (1866-1938). He speaks of fabrics that were tailored into the vestments we see today. These ‘fabrics’ are then adorned with orphreys. He is especially upset about the fact that this fabric was cut up to make the dalmatic and the tunicella. Von Schlosser also copies a description of the or nué technique that is faulty. The embroidery design is not copied onto a base layer of couched gold threads and then overstitched with silks. In general, none of these earlier publications sees the many nuances in the use of the embroidery techniques. Von Schlosser deduces that the vestments were made under Philip the Good between 1429 and 1467 in Brussels. This is also the only publication that identifies the many saints and scenes on the vestments.

More recent publications were written by Katja Schmitz-von Ledebur (2009, 2010), art historian and current curator of the vestments. These publications are short summaries on their history, iconography and embroidery technique. They also contain the latest stance on who were the painters involved in the designs of the embroidery (the Van Eyck brothers, Master of Flémalle, Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden). Schmitz-von Ledebur tries, without much success, to pinpoint the embroiderers involved in making these vestments. In 2011, Christine Brandner wrote her master thesis on the phenomena of textile garments with the vestments of the Order of the golden Fleece as her focus of research.

In my opinion, the vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece would really benefit from a modern in-depth publication such as those from the Abegg-Stiftung. One that looks at the materials, embroidery technique and the tailoring of the vestments rather than trying to pinpoint the painters who inspired the designs. It should be possible to distinguish several embroidery ateliers involved in the making of these vestments. This simply cannot be the work of one master embroiderer with his journeyman and apprentices. A proper investigation into the development of the technique of or nué is also long overdue. It still strikes me as odd that the zenith of this technique is seen in one of the oldest pieces displaying the technique. What do you think?

Literature
k. k. Österr. Museum für Kunst und Industrie, 1864. Die burgundischen Gewänder der k. k. Schatzkammer: Messornat für den Orden vom goldenen Vliess, Wien.
Sacken, E. von, 1858. Der burgundischen Messornat des goldenen Vliess-Ordens in der k. k. Schatzkammer zu Wien. Mittheilungen der K. K. Central-Commission zur Erforschung und Erhaltung der Baudenkmale Band 3, pp. 113–118.
Schlosser, J. von, 1912. Der burgundischen Paramentenschatz des Ordens vom goldenen Vliesse. Anton Schroll & Co., Wien.
Schmitz-von Ledebur, K., 2009. Der Messornat des Ordens vom goldenen Vlies: Ein Hauptwerk der burgundischen Hofkunst, in: Marti, S., Borchert, T.-H., Keck, G. (Eds.), Karl der Kühne (1433-1477). Kunst, Krieg und Hofkultur. Belser, Stuttgart, pp. 62–71.
Schmitz-von Ledebur, K., 2010. Das Messornat des Ordens vom Goldenen Vlies: Sticker im Dienste der burgundischen Herzöge, in: Bergemann, U.-C., Stauffer, A. (Eds.), Reiche Bilder. Aspekte zur Produktion und Funktion von Stickereien im Spätmittelalter. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg, pp. 25–36.