Last week, I introduced you to the literature available on the vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece. This week, we will have a look at what is believed to be the oldest part of the collection: the antependia. Read more
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 Read more
Last year, I spent many delightful hours studying the Bologna Cope at the Museo Civico Medievale in Bologna, Italy. This Opus anglicanum cope was made in England between AD 1310 and 1320. The cope was also displayed at the epic Read more
Several Italian museums hold Opus anglicanum embroidered vestments. On the one hand, this is a testament to the popularity of Opus anglicanum among European clergy in the 13th and 14th centuries. However, it was also the result of the Italians Read more
Last week, we looked at the mitre of St Isidoro, with beautiful pearl embroidery, dating to the second quarter of the 14th century. Today’s mitre with pearl embroidery is slightly younger, dating to the last quarter of the 14th century, Read more
The Saint Stefano church, one of the churches of the seven-churches complex in Bologna, houses a spectacular mitre with pearl embroidery from the second quarter of the 14th century. The iconography is not your average Christian fare, featuring dragons, birds, Read more
Late last year, I visited the Domschatz Fritzlar. This is a small museum with several embroidered medieval textiles on display, which you can photograph as long as you don’t use flash. The textiles are extremely well-lit and very close to the Read more
The 14th-century Grandson Antependium is a pretty mix of embroidery techniques, styles, languages and geographical areas. It is one of only three surviving pieces of Opus ciprense embroidery in the world. Another famous antependium in this embroidery style is held at Read more
In a bid to compensate people for high energy prices, Germany offers regional transport tickets for only 9 euros per month during June, July, and August. Apparently, to get commuters out of their cars and into public transport. Good luck Read more
We have no contemporary eyewitness accounts of the first Christmas. Still, quite a few of the nativity scenes in the Western world look very much the same. How did that happen? And how does this relate to a group of Read more