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Category: Geography
The Star Witness Project by Caren Garfen. The past week saw the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day in my native Netherlands. However, I live in Germany and am of German descent. As Fascism is on the rise again in many countries, I have an important family story to tell—a story that is not often told…
This week, we continue our exploration of late medieval goldwork embroidery from the Netherlands. I made an exciting discovery on a cope kept at the Dommmuseum Frankfurt in Germany. The Dutch dalmatics I showed you last week ended up in a museum collection in Italy after they were bought at auction. This week’s Dutch cope…
This month, we will focus on late medieval goldwork embroidery from the Netherlands. These can be found in collections and church treasuries all over the world. Like Opus anglicanum in earlier times, late medieval goldwork embroidery from the Low Countries was highly sought after. The embroidery workshops in major centres such as Utrecht, Amsterdam and…
In this medieval embroidery tutorial, I will show you how to recreate the lovely female face with the big braids as seen on this 15th-century chasuble. You will practice silk embroidery, padding and beading when recreating this lovely beaded stumpwork portrait of a female saint. Whilst working the medieval embroidery sample using the tutorial on…
Last week, we examined a medieval goldwork embroidery chasuble with two different types of stumpwork, dating to the first half of the 15th century and made in the Franconia region of Germany. This week, I have another lovely chasuble for you that also displays medieval goldwork embroidery from two older vestments. You can see the…
In the past months, we have examined medieval goldwork embroidery centres in Italy and England. This month, we will explore medieval goldwork embroidery made in the Franconia Region in Germany, which lies just south of the centre of Germany. Important cities include Nuremberg, Würzburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Ansbach, Coburg, Meiningen and Schwäbisch Hall. As far as…
Although my interest is primarily medieval goldwork, I have encountered a lot of younger embroidery in my research. Some of it is rather fun, like the needlepoint vestments seen in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Geometric, floral and figural scenes are worked on canvas with cross-stitches, tent stitches, and other typical needlepoint stitches. The…
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 Opus anglicanum exhibition in the V&A in 2016/2017. Although the cope is missing its hood,…
Several Italian museums hold Opus anglicanum embroidered vestments. On the one hand, this is a testament to Opus anglicanum being hugely popular with European clergy in the 13th and 14th centuries. However, it was also the result of the Italians remaining Catholic and England going through the destructions of the Reformation. Some of these splendidly…
We continue our exploration of medieval goldwork from Tuscany with a couple of stunning orphreys. One is kept in a museum, one in a Cathedral, and the third is in a private collection. In 2019, they were displayed side by side in Castello Buonconsiglio. All three are of exceptional quality, both in design and embroidery…